(Reuters) - India won U.S. support for its food stockpiling scheme on Thursday, rescuing the World Trade Organization from paralysis and giving new Prime Minister Narendra Modi a victory without major concessions.
Under the pact with Washington, India will lift a veto on a global agreement on streamlining customs rules, a deal that prominent supporters estimate will add $1 trillion to the world economy as well as 21 million jobs, 18 million of them in developing countries.
Modi, elected in May, pulled the plug on the WTO agreement four months ago because he wanted faster agreement on an unrelated deal on food security, leaving the WTO facing an uncertain future.
Stressing the importance of ensuring that its 1.25 billion people have enough to eat, India won an open-ended commitment from Washington to protect its food purchase and distribution scheme from legal challenges over exports of surplus grain stocks accumulated in government warehouses.
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