India tells US, EU to converge on trade
25 Jan 2007
According to report in London''s Financial Times commerce minister Kamal Nath said the developing countries could compromise to reach a deal on global trade provided the US and the EU had to yield more to revive the talks.
Nath told the paper that he had asked the US and the EU that to show a convergence of interest ahead of a meeting of about 30 trade ministers at a summit in Davos, Switzerland.
"This ministerial (meeting) is not to negotiate. The starting point cannot be a ministerial," Nath was quoted by the paper.
US and EU negotiators are working to bridge differences over agriculture in world trade talks, but a gulf remains between Washington and India.
India, along with Brazil has emerged as a rallying point for other developing nations that has acted as a foil to the US'' and the EU''s controlling influence in the Doha Round of talks. India and brazil have demanded that richer countries should curb their farm subsidies while safeguarding the interests of their own farmers.
"If the US seeks market access for its subsidised products, it will result in more market access for subsidy flows, not trade flows," Nath told Financial Times.
