Developed world must lead the way: Nath

NEW DELHI: Commerce & industry minister Kamal Nath — who will meet WTO director-general Pascal Lamy on Wednesday, as part of the recent consensus-building exercise aimed at reviving stalled talks — has said that India was waiting for developed countries to show leadership in taking the stalled talks forward.

Mr Lamy is trying to build consensus on an agreement on liberalising agriculture and industrial goods so that the modalities for cutting tariffs and subsidies are in place by the month-end.

He was entrusted with the task of generating a compromise between key members including India, China, Brazil, Japan, the EU and US, when the much-hyped mini-ministerial talks in Geneva in June-end failed to produce results.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Nath said it was very important that the development content of the Doha round was preserved. “We are not asking for anything extra. It is all there in the mandate,” Mr Nath said.

Mr Lamy has been asked to prepare a draft modalities text on agriculture and industrial goods based on his talks with the WTO membership. If he manages to pull it off, the draft would be subjected to the scrutiny and approval of members in another mini-ministerial meet later this month.