India may 'soften' stand on trade round

By Sushma Ramachandran

NEW DELHI, AUG. 29. The Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, last night left for Mexico to attend the informal ministerial conference convened to discuss issues relating to the coming Doha conference of the World Trade Organisation. The Mexico conclave is being attended by 18 member-countries and is considered crucial in the run-up to the formal WTO conference in November.

During the two-day meeting on August 31 and September 1, key players of the developed and developing world will discuss all major issues. Apart from India, other participants include the U.S., the European Union, Japan, Australia, Pakistan, Canada, Egypt, Malaysia, Brazil, Switzerland, Jamaica, Hong Kong, South Africa, Tanzania, Uruguay, Singapore and Qatar.

The meeting is expected to debate out the contentious question whether a new round of trade negotiations should be launched. Mr. Maran, accompanied by the Commerce Secretary, Mr. Prabir Sengupta, has been consistently saying India is opposed to a new round till critical implementation issues are addressed to the satisfaction of the developing countries. It is possible that this rigid stand may be softened after the informal meeting as most member-countries appear to be in favour of a new round, though with a limited agenda. Even the SAARC countries which had a meeting of Commerce Ministers last week seem to be thinking on these lines, judging by their statements in various fora. At the same time, they agree with India that any decision on the new round should be taken only after a consensus is reached in the WTO.

Apart from the new trade round, the Mexico conference is also expected to discuss the mandated negotiations on agriculture and services as well as new issues such as the investment and competition policy which the European Union is keen on including in the agenda. The linkage of trade to environment and labour is also likely to figure in the talks, though the developing countries have already indicated their opposition to efforts to place these non-trade issues in the agenda.

The informal ministerial meeting will be followed by another gathering of like-minded developing countries on September 17 in Geneva. But the Mexico meeting is of greater significance for the Doha conference since key representatives of the developed and the developing countries are participating.

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