BOOK: Prabhash RANJAN, India and Bilateral Investment Treaties: Refusal, Acceptance, Backlash. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019). ISBN 9780199493746, $65.00

(Source: OUP)

Oxford University Press is publishing a book dealing with the history of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in India.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Many countries have started contesting international investment treaties that allow foreign corporations to sue sovereign States for alleged treaty breaches at international arbitration fora. This contestation has taken the form of either countries terminating their investment treaties or walking out of the investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) system. India has also jumped on the contestation bandwagon. As a consequence of being sued by more than 20 foreign investors, India terminated close to 60 investment treaties and adopted a new model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) purportedly to balance investment protection with the host State's right to regulate. This book studies critically India's approach towards BITs by tracing its origin, evolution, and the current state of play. The book does so by locating it in India's economic policy in general and policy towards foreign investment in particular. India's approach towards BITs and its policy towards foreign investment were consistent with each other in the periods of economic nationalism (1947-1990) and economic liberalism (1991-2010). However, post 2010, India's approach to BITs has become protectionist while India's foreign investment policy continues to be liberal. In order to balance investment protection with the State's right to regulate, India needs to evolve its BIT practice based on the twin framework of international rule of law and embedded liberalism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Prabhash Ranjan, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, South Asian University

Prabhash Ranjan teaches at the Faculty of Law, South Asian University, New Delhi.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword 
Acknowledgements 
1. Introduction
Phase I: Refusal 
2. Economic Nationalism: Refusal to Bilateral Investment Treaties
Phase II: Acceptance 
3. Economic Liberalism: Embracing Bilateral Investment Treaties
4. India's BITs: Mapping the Acceptance I
5. Mapping the Acceptance II
Phase III: Backlash 
6. BITs Come Home to Roost but No Philip Morris Moment Yet!
7. Mapping the Backlash: Once Bitten Many Times Shy!
8. The 2016 Indian Model BIT: Making the BIT Unworkable for Investors
9. Conclusion
Annexure 
Index 
About the Author

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