India to pursue bilateral trade deals
India will pursue bilateral trade agreements with the European Union, Japan and other countries after the collapse of the World Trade Organisation talks, a top official said today.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath told reporters he was confident the collapse would not limit the expansion of India’s economy, which is growing at around eight percent a year.
“We are looking at, we are examining, economic co-operation agreements with the European Union. We are looking at co-operation agreements with Japan,” he said.
Leading members of the World Trade Organisation yesterday called a halt to more than five years of trade liberalisation talks, saying differences over farm subsidies proved unbridgeable.
The European Union criticised US intransigence over agricultural subsidies for the breakdown, while the United States blamed Brazil and India for being inflexible on cutting barriers to industrial imports and the EU for refusing to make deeper cuts in its farm import tariffs.
Nath, speaking to reporters today, blamed the collapse of talks on a difference of “mind-set” between rich and poor countries.
For India, the latest round of talks was to be about “enhancing the economies of developing countries, increasing trade flows from developing to developed countries,” Nath said.
“If the developed countries want to view this round as a market access round for themselves, which is going to impinge upon the livelihood of our farmers and is going to hurt our industry, then we made very clear there is and can be no further movement in these negotiations,” he added.
Still, Nath insisted India still supported the long-term goal of the WTO - slashing global trade barriers in a comprehensive treaty – and in the comings weeks and months would talk with other developing countries about how to chart a new course.
At the same time, it would pursue bilateral trade agreements – a move Indian industry groups have recently argued the government should make, especially with neighbouring Asian countries, noting that such deals have proved more beneficial in recent years.
India’s exports have been growing at close to 20% a year lately, thanks to a surge in trade with Asian nations, as opposed to India’s traditional trade destinations such as the United States and Europe.
