Union Commerce Minster Kamal Nath taking tough stand on the multilateral meeting at WTO conference said that India will get out of the talks if it does not get what it wants. Despite his tough stand he added that he is hopeful that the meeting in WTO will lead to progress and closure.

 

Kamal Nath’s presentation was typical and he was full of vigor. The confidence of survival of his government at home was there with him all along the presentation. He opined that in WTO meeting a couple of proposals under discussion could be deal-breakers but at the same time he showed his hope for some agreement.

 

Earlier he consulted with groupings and sub-groupings working for their vested interest and discussed WTO Director General report with them. The report according to him is unevenly distributed and asks for reduction of import duties on agricultural products; also, the issue is not new and is a major concern for India.

 

Nath said that he expects to go to Geneva ahead of the meeting to hold talks with China, Brazil, US and the EU. Kamal Nath said that anti-concentration, de minimus, must not result in erosion of industry and that would be a deal breaker. On similar line Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim said that G20 would not have got the US to make the offer on subsidies if it was not for itself.