Final GATT Agreement-An Assessment

Final GATT Agreement An Assessment V M Tarkunde THIS article is being written after a good deal of hesitation. I have gone through the controversial provisions of the Dunkel Draft. I have also seen a good deal of the literature on the subject, including an instructive article by S P Shukia, who was formerly finance secretary of the govern-ment of India and was also India's ambassador and permanent representative to GATTat Geneva. Not being a professional economist, nor a person well versed in international commerce, I can do no more than present my tentative views on the controversy generated by India's representative signing the Final Act of GATT's Uruguay Round. Nevertheless l think it necessary to do so because many of the published articles on the Dunkel Proposals (not the one by S P Shukla) were fell by me to be highly one-sided, and also because some leftist political parties have decided to start a mass movement to condemn India's signing the Final Treaty. I believe that such a movement will be highly detrimental to India's interests and also to the cause of the leftist parties themselves. I hope that the publication of these tentative views will evoke a thoughtful response from persons more qualified to contribute to this discussion.