West should break Doha deadlock: India

Geneva, Dec 1 (PTI) India has asked the developed world
to modify their stand on market access to the developing
countries to make progress on the Doha Round.
"Progress (on Doha talks) could be achieved rapidly by
placing development firmly back on the agenda, tempering the
demands for additional market access into the developing
countries by the development mandate, rather than the
mercantilist expectations of the rich developed countries,"
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said here
last night.
Addressing World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial
here, Sharma cautioned that in the process of bridging gaps,
the broad understandings of the past eight years should not be
reversed. He, however, said the major focus of the engagement
on the Doha talks for the last three months had been on just
peripheral issues at the cost of main areas of negotiations.
Trade ministers of almost all the 153 WTO member-states
are meeting here for three days, which started yesterday,
to discuss reforms of the WTO functioning and review the
global economy recovering from recession.
The Doha Round is likely to dominate the 7th WTO
ministerial opening here today, though hardcore negotiations
for a deal are not on the agenda.
The Doha Round of WTO talks was earlier stalled after
difference over subsidies given by developed world to their
farmers and their insistence on opening the global farm trade.
PTI RK
MYR