India has made it clear that it will not relinquish the leverage on agriculture and NAMA until a services deal is finalised by the WTO.
Ahead of his meeting with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy in Beijing on Tuesday, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday that India and China were working together to create a new 'architecture and pattern' of multilateral negotiations. The mutual cooperation in WTO was reviewed at a meeting between Nath and his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said he talked to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and told him that this was not a text of convergence, but nevertheless forms the basis for further intensive negotiations to restart in September.
In a significant move to make the World Trade Organisations trade negotiations to meet the July-end deadline for a Framework Agreement, Trade Ministers of Non-Group 5 including India are meeting in Paris from July10-11.
India on Tuesday said it was making a last ditch effort to revive the collapsed WTO talks but made it clear that it would not allow industrialised nations to trample developing countries' interest, especially in the sensitive farm sector.
In a bid to break the deadlock on multilateral trade issues after the collapse of WTO's Cancun Ministerial, G-20 developing countries on agriculture will hold a meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy on December 12.
Brazilian External Affairs Minister Celso Amorim, who is among the 35 trade ministers at the Delhi informal ministerial meeting said, "In the game of chess, sometimes the end game is much longer over the middle game. The fact that we are in the middle game does not mean it (Doha Round) will finish."
In a major blow to China's exports, the European Union has announced that it is cancelling some of the advantages enjoyed by Chinese commodities under the generalised system of preferences (GSP) so that other developing countries can also benefit.
The prospects for ministers pushing through an outline deal in the so-called Doha round of trade talks hang in the balance, with the US struggling with scepticism from Congress and its business and farm lobbies.
"If the basis of the round (Doha negotiations) has to see a change in its very objectives, it would be tough going for global trade integration," said Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath. "Revival of the weakest" and "not survival of the fittest" should form the core of the negotiations, he added. Otherwise, a renewed attempt being made by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy to bring the talks back on rail could meet the fate of the recently abandoned talks in Geneva.
India's efforts to include services in the proposed Framework on Agriculture and Non-agriculture Market Access have received a shot in the arm with the European Union showing willingness to extend its support.
World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy has endorsed India's stand in global trade talks but asked New Delhi to look at the 'bigger picture' and help break the impasse.
India and EU on Monday agreed to resume stalled WTO talks immediately by adopting a flexible approach to narrow the differences on contentious issues like agriculture.
European Union trade commissioner Pascal Lamy will visit India next month to discuss issues involved in Indo-EU trade relations.
India has rejected the World Trade Organisation's proposal to conclude the negotiations on the Doha Round by June-end.
Services have now become an offensive area for many developing countries like India and that is good news.
The meeting has been convened to conclude modalities in the Doha Development Agenda for Agriculture and Market Access for Industrial Goods. Lamy had called on Nath to inform him about the meeting and press the commerce minister to attend the meeting at any cost.
Much has been written about that afternoon, and the Brazilian's career and epic rivalry with Frenchman Alain Prost, with questions still asked about what caused the crash. What is certain is that it changed Formula One, triggering a major safety review and altering the course of sporting history.
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