'India committed to success of WTO negotiations'

NEW DELHI: India is committed to a successful conclusion of the on-going multilateral trade negotiations of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), it will not be pressurised by deadlines, commerce & industry minister Anand Sharma said on Wednesday.

���It is important to make progress on substance in the on-going WTO negotiations and not be pressurised by deadlines,��� he said while speaking at a seminar on WTO issues, organised by Ficci.

The Doha round of WTO talks for further opening up of markets in goods and services, which kicked off in November 2001, hit a road-block in July last year when talks broke down over issues such as the protection to be accorded to poor country farmers against import surges and elimination of duties on select industrial goods.

Speaking at the seminar, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar pointed out that fast progress in the negotiations also depends on when economic recovery happens. ���If you don���t see revival in the next two quarters, there can be no rapid movement in negotiations, ��� he said.

Negotiators are under siege in their countries if they are dealing with factors such as 22% job losses, Mr Khullar said. As per a senior official in the ministry of commerce & industry, the global economic slowdown may also slow down the pace of the multilateral trade negotiations. Negotiators also have to respond to the situations existing in their respective countries, the official, who didn���t wish to be named, said. Some of the key negotiators from certain member countries have also been changed recently which will also affect the pace of negotiations, he added.