SC: The Doha Development Round is in crisis today. This was the Round that was to focus on the agenda of developing countries, Millions of farmers across several continents are happy that their interests have not been bartered away. But instead of a deal that was to be worth 800 billion dollars, there is no deal. Would you describe the glass as half full or half empty?
KN: Neither empty nor full. WTO frames rules for world trade. So far, we had one round, which we call the Uruguay Round. Now the second round has to be discussed. When the second round was envisaged, we expressed the view that the rules of global trade should be uniform. They should be just, Specifically with regard to agriculture. The subsidy given to this sector by developed countries gives their farm sector an edge. Their agriculture sector gets additional resources to participate in global trade, and thereby, even enter India. Our farmers stand to lose in the process. Now in the second round of WTO talks which we call the Doha Round our aim is to ensure that discussions should not be only on free trade, but also on its fairness. This can only happen if there is a level playing field for developed and developing countries, including India. Unless this happens, and if developed countries continue to give farm subsidies and protect their industries, there cannot be fair competition. So we tried, and also succeeded in getting across the message, that if developed countries want us to import their farm produce, that is unacceptable to us. We want our farmer to export. But today he is unable to do so because of subsidy given by developed countries. This is unfair competition. Our farmer is not able to match up to it.
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