By IANS
New Delhi : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has questioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s reported “sudden about turn” over the Doha round of trade talks and said that India’s position should be of “give and take” and not only “giving” in the negotiations.
Quoting an external affairs ministry statement in Abuja in Nigeria on talks between Manmohan Singh and the US President George W. Bush, it pointed out that the prime minister has said “it was our duty to the global community … to ensure that the Doha round too takes us forward on the path of removing barriers to trade.”
In an editorial in the latest issue of party mouthpiece People’s Democracy, the party said: “It is difficult to understand this sudden about turn of India’s stand on the NAMA (Non-Agricultural Market Access) and the agriculture texts, as there has been no corresponding change in either the texts or the position of the developed countries.”
Pointing out that India along with other developing countries had rejected the NAMA text, it said: “It is indeed strange that this comes on the eve of the second IBSA summit to attend which the prime minister has travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa. All the three countries of IBSA – India, Brazil and South Africa – are members of the NAMA-II group of countries, which has already rejected the text of the chairman of the Doha round of negotiations on NAMA.”
“India has also been critical of the agriculture text, as it does not concretise the specific measures it needs to protect its agriculture and leaves open the degree of market access the developed countries will offer,” the editorial pointed out.
It recalled that the key obstacle in the Doha round has been the US as it did not agree to any significant reduction in subsidies, not even to accommodate the four cotton producing countries in Africa.
“With the US president’s fast-track negotiating mandate having expired, the US cannot make any commitments on agriculture now. Without a corresponding commitment from the US, the agricultural negotiations make little sense.
“It will only lead to further unilateral concessions and jeopardise the future of India’s farmers, without any benefits in return,” the editorial said.
“The key reason that the Doha round is not progressing is due to the attitude of the developed countries, particularly the US, which seek further concessions from developing countries without committing anything in return. This position has been opposed by all developing countries, including the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, the African group countries and other countries with small and vulnerable economies.”
It asked the Indian government to adhere to the stand taken by the NAMA-II group for further negotiations in the Doha round.
“India cannot only be prepared to ‘giving its share’ without its concerns being properly and adequately addressed. It has to be ‘give and take’, not only ‘giving’, it said.