Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations
     Geneva

Statement by India during the first union of the Marrakesh Assembly, WIPO Geneva, delivered by Dr. Sumit Seth, First Secretary (Economic Affairs) on 5 October 2016

Mr. Chairman,

            The success of any norm setting process hinges on Flexibilities.  Marrakesh Treaty is symbolic of the victory of flexibilities,victory of multilateralism and above all victory of humanism. It is these flexibilities which have brought smiles on the faces of millions of visually impaired persons all over the world.

Marrakesh Treaty promotes access and sharing of books in any format for the blind or visually impaired, which is expected to alleviate the “book famine” experienced by many of the WHO-estimated 285 million people suffering from such disability in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India has more than 63 million visually impaired people, out of whom about 8 million are blind.

This treaty removes barriers to access, recognizes right to read, establishes equal opportunities and rights to blind, visually impaired and otherwise print disabled persons who are marginalised due to lack of access to published works. We are also happy to note that this treaty strikes an appropriate balance between copyrights and exceptions and limitations.

It fills me with pride to represent a nation which has been a leader in implementing the pact that will benefit not only India’s visually impaired citizens but millions more around the world.

Considering the importance of access to knowledge especially to blind persons, Indian Parliament approved amendments to India’s copyright law which includes very robust exceptions for the physically disabled persons

Mr. Chairman

Government of India collaborated with the private local bodies for ensuring better implementation of the treaty.The core principle of India’s model is its Multi-Stakeholder Approach. In addition, India in collaboration with WIPO has created a “Sugamya Pustakalaya”, which means accessible library - an Online Library of Accessible Books. We invite other member states to study and analyse the Indian Model.

We are happy to celebrate and see that the treaty has come into force, as we mentioned this before and we repeat it again, that Marrakesh treaty has taken a form of a ‘beautiful butterfly’ which is liked by one and all.

With these words I thank you, Mr. Chairman.