India is pushing for easier rules for travel to work across borders as protectionism in West rises

India is looking forward to making a global pitch in order to make it easier to travel for work across borders at international fora like the G-20 and BRICS. This moves come in order to protect Indians from the protectionist wave in the West which has unsettled the India’s services industry.

According to a ministry official, The plan is to approach other countries and get potential partners to support its proposed paper on Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) that seeks to remove unnecessary regulations on trade in services.

"G-20 (Group of 20 major economies) and BRICS (association of emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are the right fora to build advantage of coalitions," the official told ET.

Currently, the sector accounts for about 60% in the country's GDP and 28% of total employment.

The commerce ministry along with the World Bank is also planning on holding a workshop on TFS next month to support awareness building and better understanding of the issue.

"Officials from the OECD will also be part of the workshop," a person aware of the programme, told ET.

India had submitted the concept note on reducing regulations involved in trade in services in September last year to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The note is currently being legally vetted.