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Govt accused of secret WTO deals with US

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday charged the central government with having entered into a private deal with the US for coming on board the new round of trade negotiations at the forthcoming Doha WTO conference though it has taken an opposite public posture.

''It is possible that the government has taken a public position of strident opposition keeping in mind domestic political compulsions, but privately it is telling the Americans and the rest of the world that India will come on board,'' Ramesh said at a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

However, later Ramesh clarified to the reporters that these were his personal views and not of his party.

He said India would be completely isolated if it did not agree for a new global round of negotiations at Doha.

All major countries have come out in support of a new round. On July 16, 2001, US trade representative and his European Union counterpart wrote a joint article in the Washington Post arguing strongly for a new round.

China, waiting in the wings to become a WTO member, has also openly supported the new round. So is the case with Latin American and East Asian nations.

''Only India is an exception along with Pakistan and a few inconsequential African countries. India's opposition will confirm the impression of our being obstructionist,'' Ramesh said.

However, the minister of state for commerce and industry Digvijay Singh said that India's firm stand against the launch of a new trade negotiating round has not isolated it among the WTO members and many countries share New Delhi's concerns on adding new issues to the multilateral trade agenda.

Besides, the Indian stand was amply supported by the recent meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation.

''It is made out in certain quarters that India with its firm stand in favour of implementation issues, has been isolated among WTO membership. This is not at all true as is borne out by the recent conference of the SAARC commerce ministers who have opposed the move to extend the WTO frontiers before the inequalities between the developed and developing countries are meaningfully addressed,'' he said.

Ramesh, however, did not give much credence to SAARC.

''If we are going by the SAARC joint declaration, then God help us,'' he remarked.

Singh's views were reinforced by special secretary in the commerce ministry Nripendra Mishra.

''When we talk of substance we are not isolated, be it in the area of labour, environment, investment or competition. A significant number of countries do not want these issues on the WTO agenda,'' Mishra said.

UNI

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