Examine the role of Digital Public Infrastructure and trade facilitation reforms in strengthening India's position in multilateral trade forums.

Q. Examine the role of Digital Public Infrastructure and trade facilitation reforms in strengthening India's position in multilateral trade forums. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

The WTO's Trade Policy Review is a transparency mechanism under which members' trade regimes are periodically examined [1]. India's Eighth TPR, concluded in Geneva on 23 July 2026, saw members explicitly commend its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and customs modernisation [1] — showing that domestic governance reform has become a source of negotiating credibility abroad.

How DPI strengthens India's standing - Credibility through demonstration: members highlighted India's DPI achievements alongside its innovation and startup ecosystem, converting a domestic model into diplomatic capital [1]. - Transparency: digital rails allow verifiable, real-time disclosure of procedures — directly serving the TPR's aim of enhancing transparency and adherence to WTO rules [1]. - Digital economy agenda: the India AI Mission (2024) signals capacity in emerging digital technologies, positioning India in rule-making on data and digital trade rather than as a rule-taker [2].

How trade facilitation reforms strengthen it - Lower transaction costs: modernised customs and trade facilitation processes were cited by India as evidence of reform delivery [1]. - MSME inclusion: members noted India's efforts to integrate MSMEs into global value chains, giving weight to India's development-focused positions [1]. - Structural gains: India's trade-to-GDP ratio stood at about 45% in FY 2024-25, above the pre-pandemic trend, with a services surplus of 4.8% of GDP partly offsetting the goods deficit [2].

Limits to note - These reforms do not resolve the core contests — agricultural tariffs and industrial protection defended on developmental grounds [1] — and India remains a lower-middle-income economy with per capita GDP near USD 2,671 [2].

DPI and facilitation reforms thus function less as bargaining chips than as proof of good-faith engagement, which India reinforced through steps such as accepting the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies [1]. Sustaining this requires deepening last-mile digital adoption by MSMEs and exporters. Coupled with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision [2], such reform-backed credibility can let India speak both as a large developing economy and as a constructive architect of multilateral trade rules.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. India Concludes Eighth Trade Policy Review at WTO in Geneva, PIB (23 July 2026) — TPR mechanism and purpose; 1,094 questions from 44 members and 68 interventions; member appreciation of DPI, customs/trade facilitation modernisation, startups and MSME-GVC integration; India's defence of agricultural and industrial tariffs; acceptance of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement 2. WTO Secretariat Report WT/TPR/S/488, Trade Policy Review: India (26 May 2026) — India AI Mission (March 2024); trade-to-GDP ratio ~45% and services surplus 4.8% of GDP in FY 2024-25; per capita GDP ~USD 2,671; Amrit Kaal/Viksit Bharat framing