Nirmala Sitharaman to meet WTO chief on Tuesday

Meeting assumes significance as it's being held months before WTO's ministerial conference

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to push for a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) on services when she meets World Trade Organisation chief Roberto Azevedo on Tuesday.

Set to happen at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, the meeting assumes significance as it is being held months before the organisation’s ministerial conference, held once in two years, in Argentina in December. 

Once an official agenda is framed for the ministerial, nations are bound by WTO norms to discuss that and not introduce new ones. Hence, negotiations are heating up on the topics to be discussed during Tuesday’s meeting. India is pitching