The Hindu Business Line : CII backs India's stand at Doha round

`CII believes that unless domestic support, export subsidy and market access are addressed simultaneously along with flexibilities, the round will not progress' G-20 should continue to remain firm on special products, special safeguard measures and sensitive products, it says.

Chennai , July 2

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has "expressed solidarity" with India's negotiating stand at the WTO.

The "CII supports the united and undiluted stand of the Indian negotiating team led by the Union Commerce Minister, Mr Kamal Nath," it said in a statement.

The G-20 (group of 20 developing nations) has demonstrated firmly that it will not compromise on the development aspect of the Doha Round, the statement said. Mr R.V. Kanoria, Chairman of the CII Committee of WTO, and the Confederation's past president, Mr N. Kumar, who are in Geneva as part of the official delegation, have noted in the statement that development "is at the heart of the Doha Round."

The G-20 should continue to remain firm on special products, special safeguard measures and sensitive products, it said. The "CII believes that unless domestic support, export subsidy and market access are addressed simultaneously along with flexibilities, the round will not progress," it said.

Multilateral system

Speaking to Business Line, the CII President, Mr R. Seshasayee, said the confederation believed in working through a multilateral system. He said the absence of meeting of minds at Geneva was "not a failure of the institution, but failure of current talks".

He noted that walls had already been lowered and further lowering might "hurt the vulnerable incumbents of each country." Steps have to be taken cautiously, he said.

Collapse of round?

The key issue is whether the failure of talks at Geneva represents a "collapse" of the Doha Round. Mr Seshasayee does not believe it is a collapse, but some others do. Mr M.R. Venkatesh, a Chennai-based Chartered Accountant and a trade policy analyst, saidthe WTO was "so heavily loaded against the developing countries" to start with, that the Doha Development Agenda was not going to be easy.

"The Doha Round will neither be allowed to collapse nor succeed. It will be kept on life support system," Mr Venkatesh told Business Line on Saturday.