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WTO talks: No compromise on Indian interests
India on Tuesday insisted that services must take top priority in world trade talks. “We have our interests and there is no question of agreeing only to those sectors where the developed countries are interested,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Rajya Sabha.
India on Tuesday insisted that services must take top priority in world trade talks. “We have our interests and there is no question of agreeing only to those sectors where the developed countries are interested,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in Rajya Sabha.
He was replying to a calling-attention motion on the status of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Sharma said in the present round of negotiations “services will be an integral part.”
He assured the House that “there is no question of coming under pressure when it comes to trade policy. India will come under only one pressure, the pressure of its interest, the pressure of its people and the pressure of its farmers. There is no question of we being pro-US.”
Developed countries will have to make deep cuts in their subsidies, and this is still being negotiated, he said, adding there cannot be any agreement while subsidies are in place.
