India has said it is disappointed with the outcome of the recent WTO ministerial in Geneva as nothing substantive was done to resolve the differences to free global commerce.Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar who was part of the Indian delegation headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said in New Delhi on Tuesday, the main hurdle for the trade talks was a non-serious attitude of the Obama administration which is yet to put in place its negotiators. Mr. Khullar said the US administration is pre-occupied with its healthcare reform issues and trade is not uppermost in the US agenda.He said, however, the message has gone around that if no serious effort is made to move on with the talks, there could be serious trouble. He said the ministers must meet again some time in March.AIR correspondent reports, trade ministers from 153 countries gathered in the WTO headquarters on November 30.However, hardcore negotiations mainly regarding the Doha Round talks, were kept off the business.While the ministers discussed ways to complete the negotiations on the sidelines, nothing concrete could be worked.The negotiations on the Doha Round have been going on since 2001 and the world leaders at different summits, including Pittsburgh and L'Aquila, had underlined the need for concluding the talks.
News On AIR | December 8, 2009 10:06 PM
India disappointed with WTO ministerial outcome