Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

India rails at rich over trade talks

India, hardening its line against a new round of talks to free up global commerce, accused rich countries on Monday of trying to dictate an agenda for the talks that insults poor nations by ignoring their concerns.

In an interview with Reuters, Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran took particular aim at Mike Moore, director-general of the World Trade Organisation, and European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy for warning that developing countries risk falling behind if they block moves to liberalise trade.

"I take strong objection to the words of Mike Moore and (Pascal) Lamy. It is not good for the institution (the WTO)," Maran said.

"Nothing should be forced down the throat of developing countries," he added. "If an attempt is made to steamroller us, we will resist it."

US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick visited New Delhi last week to persuade India to join efforts to launch a new round of global market-opening talks at a ministerial conference of the 142-nation WTO in Doha, Qatar, in November.

India's stance will be important in determining the attitude at Doha of developing nations, which account for more than three-quarters of the WTO's members.

A decision to launch a new round must be made by consensus -- something trade ministers spectacularly failed to achieve at their first attempt to set an agenda in Seattle in December 1999. That meeting ended in disarray as anti-capitalism protesters rioted on the streets.

Maran said India would not contemplate fresh talks until it knew what obligations it would be expected to take on.

"More than anything else I have to know what the burden will be, what the sacrifice will be for the people, socially and politically. These answers we are not getting," he said.

PAST PROMISES

Rather than talking about a new round, Maran said he wanted rich countries to implement the promises they made, particularly on freer trade in agriculture and textiles, during the previous 1986-1994 Uruguay Round of market-opening negotiations.

"What happens to my implementation issues? Let them answer that to my satisfaction. That is my first priority," he said.

India is not alone in its suspicions of a new round. Many poor countries believe they got a raw deal from the Uruguay Round, which opened the door to their markets for rich-country investors and exporters.

Maran said the implementation of Uruguay Round commitments had been discussed 35 times at WTO headquarters but to no effect.

"This is not only saddening but it's a kind of insult to developing countries," he said. "Some powerful countries that have a good share of global trade are dictating terms."

Maran said he had not made up his mind whether to attend an informal meeting of key trade ministers in Mexico in a few weeks' time to thrash out differences on the Qatar agenda.

"We should hasten slowly," he said.

Maran, railing against what he called a lack of transparency and democracy at the WTO, said India and other poor states had not been properly consulted on the agenda of the proposed round.

He accused EU Commissioner Lamy of brinkmanship by demanding that new investment and competition rules be negotiated.

These issues were a "red herring" to divert attention away from the EU's reluctance to reduce barriers to farm trade further and, if possible, renegotiate past market-opening promises.

"We have made a down payment, and now they want us to pay again," Maran said. "It's a very unjust, cruel world."

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ:
India: Zoellick's WTO claims exaggerated
US wants India to open its markets to American goods
A new WTO round is useful: USTR
US prods India to join 'win-win' WTO round
Zoellick, opening batsman in Indo-US relations: Blackwill
India unmoved by US warning to join WTO talks
Zoellick raises hopes for successful WTO talks

Tell us what you think of this report