India`s Government Survives, DDA holding on a Thread!

The Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Mr. Kamal Nath, jetted in this morning from the Indian Parliament with a confidence vote in his government and assured the Developed Countries`members of the WTO that "I am obviously not here to hand around freebies without getting something in return"! India is seen as crucial for the ministers to get a deal in this ministerial meeting and everybody held his breath (including the big powers ) when Mr. Kamal Nath flew back to Delhi to attend the congress at home which secured the vote of confidence yesterday!

Mr. Kamal Nath and therefore the Indian delegation at the WTO are seeking key compromises in the current rhetorically intensified negotiations - India is seeking serious progress in agricultural reforms in developed countries specifically a substantial reduction in trade distorting domestic support in the major powers (especially U.S.)that will be key in helping reversing the characteristic investment deficit in developing country agriculture. He said this was the major benchmark otherwise members would rather pack they bags and cut their losses now! He belittled the U.S. offer of sealing their Overall Trade Distorting Domestic Support (OTDS) at USD 15 billion as a minimalist offer getting the round nowhere!

Mr. Kamal warned that the world powers cannot make mistakes here in Geneva, they are meeting in a rather grim context of a number of crises in various parts of the world especially the three "FCs" i.e. the Food, the financial and the fuel crises! that an ambitious outcome on domestic support, will get India to start listening! He warned for the case of India and other developing countries Agriculture is a case of life and death, it involves the livelihoods of the poorest farmers who number in the hundreds of millions and that "we cannot have a development Round" without an outcome which provides full comfort to livelihood and food security concerns in the developing countries"

He wondered the logic of the developed countries failure to agree on the Special Safeguard Measures proposal(technically known as SSM in the negotiations jargon) " do developed countries expect us to standby, see a surge in imports and do nothing? Do we give developed countries the unfettered right to continue subsidizing and then dumping those subsidies on us jeopardising lives of billions?" He said this is self-righteousness of Developed Countries and that, this self-righteousness will not do-"If it means no deal, so be it"!