A high-level roundtable titled "MC14 Outcomes and the Future of the Multilateral Trading System" was held in New Delhi on April 29, jointly organised by the Chintan Research Foundation (CRF) and CUTS International. The event brought together leading policymakers and trade experts to address growing uncertainty in global trade governance.

Former WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy delivered the keynote, arguing that the defining shift in trade today is from protectionism to "precautionism", driven by regulatory risk management rather than traditional trade barriers. Speakers, including Dr Shashi Tharoor, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Pradeep S. Mehta, and Shishir Priyadarshi, offered varied yet converging perspectives: the WTO remains indispensable, particularly for developing nations, yet its credibility has eroded due to paralysis in dispute settlement, geopolitical fragmentation, and the absence of meaningful outcomes at MC14.

Participants broadly agreed that the WTO faces a defining moment of choice, between managed decline and purposeful reform. Restoring trust, ensuring enforceability, and embracing flexible yet coherent multilateral approaches were identified as essential to keeping the rules-based trading system relevant in a rapidly shifting global order.