Sharma seeks US support for Doha Round
18 Mar 2010
India is fully committed to take the Doha Round of trade negotiations to a successful conclusion, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said. Sharma made the statement while interacting with the media at the Brookings Institute, in Washington.
He said India has been engaged with all key nations and its partners in the developing countries on the issue. Sharma said India hoped that other key interlocutors, particularly the US would extend strong support for the successful conclusion of the current round of negotiations. He added this would help to put in place a global trade regime.
Earlier, during his address at the Brookings Institute, he said Asia had played a key role in the global economic recovery, as many countries of the region did not end up in a full-blown recession like the countries in the West.
He said the rise of Asian and Latin American countries should be welcomed as they do not threaten the wealth and prosperity of other countries, but sought their rightful place in the economic order. Sharma said developing countries currently accounted for more than half the global economic growth. He added that Asia would emerge as a strong pillar for continuing economic growth with three of the top five economies projected from to be from the continent.
While Indian and other developing countries are seeking to speed up the Doha negotiations, analysts say the Obama administration does not seem to be keen on it.
Meanwhile, India and the US have agreed to focus on six key areas in a bid to reach 'a balanced and ambitious outcome in the Doha Development Agenda' under a new set of rules of commercial engagement.
US trade representative Ron Kirk and India's commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma signed the 'Framework for Cooperation on Trade and Investment' aimed at facilitating trade and investment flows between the two countries.
Kirk said there was almost limitless potential for growth in trade between India and US and that could contribute to economic recovery and job creation in the US and continued economic growth in India.
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