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Global trade talks closest ever to ending: India

NEW DELHI — India’s Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said a global free-trade agreement was closer than ever although some hurdles remained in agriculture, which sustains more than half of India’s 1.1 billion people.

“We are at the last mile of this,” the trade minister said in New Delhi yesterday. “India has 650 million people engaged in agriculture and unless these sensitivities are taken on board, India won’t be able to exercise flexibilities in other areas.”

Six years of talks at the World Trade Organisation in the Doha round has failed to produce an accord because of disagreement over US and European Union aid to farmers and the reluctance of developing countries such as India and Brazil to cut duties on industrial goods.

“India and the EU have almost total convergence,” Nath said in New Delhi at a meeting with the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “If the EU is willing to set a timeframe, India will follow suit.”

“India will have a constructive role to play,” Merkel said. “An open multilateral trading system is better than a host of bilateral agreements.”

Indian infrastructure: Germany was ready to invest in Indian infrastructure projects, Merkel said.

India, which ranks 29th on the list of the European nation’s trading partners, plans to boost the $15 billion of trade the two nations do annually. Merkel is accompanied by a delegation of 30 executives from German companies.

The Indian minister said he had earlier discussed the trade negotiations with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who ended a visit to India today. The U.S. has taken on board Indian concerns on agriculture, Nath said.

India’s growth story is led by its domestic market, Nath said. He also said that India’s stock market fundamentals are strong. The reason for increased investment in the country was not solely because of cheaper labour costs, he said.