WTO talks must deliver on development pledge - India

By Surojit Gupta

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India warned on Friday global trade talks will not have much chance of success if they fail to deliver on a development promise and end up converted into a market-access round for rich nations.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy has said it is possible to reach a deal on the long-delayed global trade round before the end of the year.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said in a statement in New Delhi it was vital for India to first secure the livelihoods of its poor and vulnerable farmers before it could move on any other issue.

He said a new issue of transparency in special products, which are deemed particularly important for developing nations' farmers, amounted to renegotiation of vital parts of the mandate and this was not acceptable to developing countries.

"If the Round fails to deliver on its development promise and gets converted to yet another market-access round for the benefit of the wealthier nations, the current efforts being made by India and many other developing countries to conclude it within the next few months will not have much chance of success," he said.

He said the talks were delicately poised, and whether the round reached a conclusion by the end of 2008 or moved into its eighth year would depend on a number of factors.

The WTO negotiations were launched in 2001 to help poor countries export more and to boost the global economy, but they have missed a series of deadlines due to deep differences over how to lower barriers to imports, particularly in farming.

Analysts say India is unlikely to soften its stance on agriculture and may even gamble on the negotiations stretching into next year when a new U.S. administration is in place.