NEW DELHI(PTI): India may have to open its doors to foreign insurance companies and international banks due to pressure being mounted by leading members of the Gatt, Indian Commerce Minister Pranab Mukherjee said last week.
Although India is still adhering to the ‘1969 policy reciprocity’ that allows the government to decide on entry of foreign banks of mutual understanding, it remains to be seen how long India can withstand pressures for reversal of this agreement, he told a seminar titled Dunkel, Gatt and India” held here.
The Commerce Minister, however, maintained that there has been no official suggestion from any Gatt member till now for reopening of this agreement.
Since trade in services was a later addition in the Gatt proposals, it had not been possible for India to hold elaborate negotiations on this subject as it could on the issues of agriculture and intellectual property rights. Mukherjee refuted allegations levied by opponents of the Gatt agreement that the subject was not dis cussed enough inside or outside Parliament before a decision could be taken by the government for approving the Dunkel text On the contrary, the Commerce Minister maintained, that the ruling party sent proposals for raising of the issue in the Parliament at least 19 times which for some reasons could not be taken up on many occasions.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 11, 1994
