Appropriate policy space must be an essential element of any modalities for negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its final outcome, Mr. Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, said while addressing an International Conference on ”WTO and the Doha Round: The Way Forward”, which was organised jointly by the Indian Council for Research on International Relations (ICRIER) and Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT). Stressing that protection of the interests of millions of farmers was cardinal for India, the Minister said that in agriculture, ”it remains central to our collective interests that the trade-distorting subsidies and protection provided by developed countries are eliminated so that a level playing field is established”. Agricultural tariffs remained the only instrument of safeguarding the food and livelihood security of our rural poor, he added. Mr. Pascal Lamy, Director General, WTO, who was on a two-day visit to New Delhi on 5 & 6 April 2006 also |
