In the recent past, trade in services has emerged as one of the most contentious areas of the multilateral trade negotiations. In line with the “built-in” agenda of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), a new round of services negotiations, termed “GATS 2000”, was launched in January 2000, which were subsequently subsumed by the Doha Development Agenda in November 2001. India, from being a leading opponent of the GATS during the Uruguay Round, has now emerged as one of the forerunners of the services trade liberalization under the GATS. Given this backdrop, this article tracks the evolution of the GATS 2000 negotiations and puts forward a concise overview of the state of play, with a special reference to India.
Journal of World Trade