By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
Davos : India stressed the importance of reaching an agreement on agriculture as Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath began meeting with his opposite numbers from the US and Europe Saturday in a bid to revive the stalled Doha Round of world trade talks.
Meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual summit, Kamal Nath, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson discussed ways to advance talks over lunch at a luxury hotel in this Swiss health resort.
“It’s all about process,” said Kamal Nath, referring to a demand by India and other emerging economies to negotiate existing texts on agriculture and manufacturing at the World Trade Organisation headquarters in Geneva.
There has been no progress on the main Indian demand in the agricultural negotiations – that the US, Europe and other rich countries drastically cut their agricultural subsidies, which massively disadvantage exports from India and other developing countries.
“It is agriculture, agriculture, agriculture,” said Ujal Singh Bhatia, India’s ambassador to the WTO.
“Agriculture and manufacturing must progress side by side. And then we can talk about services,” Bhatia told IANS here.