India delinks stand-off in WTO from nuke deal

India sought to delink its stand-off with the US in WTO from the civil nuclear agreement.

India today sought to delink its stand-off with the US in WTO from the civil nuclear agreement stating the deal cannot influence New Delhi joining hands with Washington on trade issues.

“The nuclear agreement was in national interest..we had it…This (the US stand in WTO) was not in our national interest,” Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said at a FICCI function here.

Nath said it is the national interest which would drive the government’s policy. “What dictates the policy is national interest and not the country,” he said.

Story

continues below this ad

Crucial WTO meeting of over 30 trade ministers failed on July 29 to reach a consensus after marathon talks in Geneva.

Expressing hope that WTO talks would restart in the next 2-3 months, Nath indicated that a lot would also depend on the political climate in the US.

“I think some time in September…at best,” he said when asked about prospects of resumption of negotiations. However, he was not sure “how much movement would take place …(considering ) the political climate in US,” he said.

He rejected the charge that India was isolated due to its tough stand on safeguards for farmers against imports.

Story continues below this ad

“I made sure that we kept our coalitions. When India did not agree to the Special Safeguard Mechanism, it was not alone…it was G-33, G-90, African Caribbean group representing almost 100 countries,” he said.

The US and EU have said a breakthrough in WTO talks could have helped the world deal with the food crisis.

Turning the table, Nath said food shortages have arisen because of lack of investment in agriculture in the developing countries. The main reason for this was high subsidy in the developed nations, he said. “Because of subsidy, there is no investment in agriculture,” Nath said.