The first meeting of United States Secretary of State John Kerry and newly elected India Prime Minister Narendra Modi was immediately marked by disagreement.

In their initial discussion during the India-US Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi, Kerry shared his distress regarding India's stand on trade facilitation (TF) rules discussed in the 160-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Geneva Friday.

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India demanded a standstill to the TF timetable until a long-lasting solution on public stockholding for food security is presented. This stance was source of great disappointment for the US, which perceived such notion to be signs of "backsliding" on commitments.

Kerry explained that India's stance is evidently at odds with Modi's goal of opening up the country's economy.

"We note that the prime minister is very focused on his signal of open to business and creating opportunities and therefore the failure of implementing TFA (Trade Facilitation Agreement) sends a confusing signal and undermines that very message that he is seeking to send about India," Kerry divulged.

India's stand, according to Kerry, fails to reflect Modi's vision.

The WTO meeting was held with the intention of finalizing a deal involving TF. The terms of this negotiation was already purportedly agreed upon since last December during WTO's first global agreement conference.

However, efforts towards finalizing this agreement have been halted by objections from other countries, such as India.

"We are deeply disappointed that backsliding on Trade Facilitation has brought the WTO to the brink of crisis," the US Trade Representative, Mike Froman, declared.

Froman further explained that these disagreements may threaten the credibility of the multilateral trading system. In addition, these delays may result in impeded developments of numerous countries around the world.

India's stand at the WTO was supported by Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia.

TagsJohn Kerry, World Trade Organisation, Geneva, Trade facilitation, Mike Froman