WTO talks slip towards breakdown

He said the proposal put forward by WTO director general Pascal Lamy made the operation of the SSM “not workable.” He said India does not agree with Lamy’s paper and there was “no ambiguity in that.”

On the US allegation that some large emerging countries were causing problems in clinching a global trade deal, Nath retorted that, “We are large, I can’t help that. We are emerging and no body should brush that.”

Earlier, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the US was concerned about the direction that a couple of countries were taking. Claiming that on Friday night the core group of seven leading members from the developed and developing world — India, Brazil, China, the European Union, US, Japan and Australia — had moved forward for a successful outcome of the seven-year-old Doha Development Round talks, Schwab, however, said there was a risk of a couple of nations advocating a “selective reopening of package”.

Schwab said there was a real threat now to the delicate balance that the group of seven countries had achieved on Friday, adding that the differences could jeopardize the outcome of the Round.

Meanwhile, India on Monday refused a demand by the developed nations for including a provision known as ‘sectorals’ for mandatory elimination of duties in sectors like auto, auto components, textiles, marine products and chemicals in the final global trade deal agreement.