By IANS,
New Delhi : The World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations may not have totally collapsed, as its director general Pascal Lamy is visiting India next week to negotiate with India Inc and the government after last month’s failed trade talks in Geneva, a top government official said here Monday.
“Lamy would be visiting India next week, around August 12 and 13,” commerce secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on WTO.
“He is coming here for discussions with the government and industry. He has already expressed his interest to talk to the industrial sector,” he added.
The Geneva talks collapsed mainly because of the differences over the special safeguard mechanism (SSM) – a provision that would permit developing countries like India to guard against sudden surges in imports or when commodity prices decline.
India claims its stand is backed by 100 developing and least developed countries.
On his return from Geneva, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath last week had said while India was still ready to come to the table to protect the gains achieved in the Doha Development Round so far, there was no question of any compromise on the livelihood security of poor farmers.