Shourie criticises developed countries for Cancun failure

Shourie was responding to remarks of Rezzo Schlauch, Parliamentary state secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour; and Gerhard Jooss, chairman of the Asia Pacific Association-India Committee, who described the collapse at Cancun as disappointing, because a return to bilateralism and regional arrangements would have a negative impact on the global economy. On Monday, chancellor Schroeder had made the same point while inaugurating the India-Pacific weeks, which is a fortnight of cultural, business and other activity, with India as the focus country, being organised in Berlin.

Shourie, who is a former Commerce Minister, was unsparing in his criticism of the developed world, saying he had told them first at the Sydney meeting last year, and then as recently as one and a half month ago at Montreal that Cancun will fail if the developed countries failed to address the concerns of the developing world.

‘‘They thought everybody would have to fall in line because the US and the EU had come together. But G-21 has come into being and it can’t be kicked around. It is their (US and EU) over-confidence, their disregard of the genuine anxieties of the developing countries which has brought about this situation’’, said Shourie.

He said in the US and EU, only 2-4 per cent population was dependent on agriculture, while in India it was 65 per cent. The developed countries did not want to compromise on the question of agricultural subsidies because it affects four or five million people, but wanted India to ignore the interests of 65 million people who survive on agriculture, he said.

Instead, US and EU tried to press on with the Singapore ‘non-issues’ on which there was no unanimity within the developed world. In fact, in the last three years, they have failed even to decided what constitutes these issues. For example, Japan differs from the US and EU on the definition of investment.