No compromise on key issues in WTO talks: Nath

India will not compromise on some of the issues which have stalled world trade talks.

India will not compromise on some of the issues which have stalled world trade talks, such as protecting its agriculture sector, its trade and commerce minister, Kamal Nath, said on Monday.

But Nath said a ministerial meeting could be convened to discuss how to take the Doha round of trade talks forward.

“Time lines are not going to dictate the content,” he told reporters at the World Economic Forum India Economic Summit in New Delhi.

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“The question

is not having a ministerial. The question is whether our concerns are being met or not.”

World leaders agreed on Saturday to strive for a major breakthrough in the long-running world trade talks by the end of the year and pledged not to raise any new trade barriers for the next 12 months, as part of a meeting to discuss the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

The world trade talks have lurched from one crisis to the next since countries agreed in 2001 to launch the negotiations.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the weekend meeting a successful conclusion to the multilateral trade talks would be an important confidence builder for the world economy.

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With US President George W. Bush set to leave office on Jan. 20, many countries would like to wrap up the basics of a Doha agreement before his successor, President-elect Barack Obama, takes over.