DOHA, Qatar-- In tough
and difficult negotiations throughout the
WTO talks in Doha, the Indian government
made its presence felt with a firm stance
on some of the more contentious issues.
Shipra
Biswas, spokesperson for the Indian delegation, said: "Many
countries, including the African, Caribbean and Pacific
group of nations, share fully our concerns on the Singapore
issues of investment and competition policy as well
as environment and labor, on which developing countries
have been emphasizing their concerns."
India has repeatedly refused to discuss trade,
investment and competition policy unless there
is explicit consensus to do so in the WTO.
Currently the European Union, along with Japan
and the United States, is pushing hard to discuss
these issues along with environment and labor policies.
The Indian delegation made it clear that environment
should not be discussed in the context of trade
and that commitments had already been made under
the Kyoto Protocol. Delegates used diplomatic language
in their response to India's position, but it was
clear that many are worried about its stance.
"I think the Indians are extremely competent
and shrewd negotiators," said Anthony Gooch,
spokesperson for the executive commission of the
15-nation EU. "India does not fall into that
category of countries that doesn't know how the
system operates. I think India is a very active
and valuable member of the WTO and they're well
able to look after their interests and I think
they're doing a good job."
A senior European official said that during negotiations
Sunday night the Indian delegation isolated themselves
on the Trade Related Aspects on Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) issue with their uncompromising
position. But apparently the Indian stance paid
off because a revised draft Declaration on TRIPS
and Public Health was released Monday evening with
a variation closer to the Indian position.
"The point we are still pressing is the political
declaration," said Biswas, "that nothing
in the agreement should stop a member country from
protecting its public health concerns. "This
new draft is not as strong as India indicated it
wanted, though, Biswas said, the Indian delegation
was happy with it.
In
the meantime, the EU continues to call for discussions
on investment,
competition policy and
the environment. "On investment, the last
draft had an option for "negotiations" or "studies," said
Amit Mitra, Secretary General of the federation
of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. "This
draft dropped the "studies" and forced
a negotiation concluding in 2003 in the next Ministerial.
That's not acceptable to us. In competition policy
there was also an option in the last draft, dropped
again in this draft."
India
continues to hold that environment is a non-trade
issue
and that there are sufficient international
agreements including the Kyoto Protocol to deal
with environmental issues. Labor, said Mitra, is
a matter for the International Labor Organization
and should not be "pushed through the back
door" in Doha.
On Monday Murasoli Maran, Indian Minister of Commerce,
met with the Zimbabwe Trade Minister and the Egyptian
Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade. He also
had a joint consultative meeting with WTO Director
General Mike Moore and Qatari Trade Minister Youssuf
Hussain Kamal. If the TRIPS and Public Health declaration
is agreed upon, Tuesday's negotiations will focus
on the more difficult issues of agriculture, implementation
and the Singapore issues. India may find it harder
to stand by its position that it will not compromise,
though delegates thought otherwise.
"India will not only be firm, it is our view
that the Like Minded Groups will hold firm," said
Mitra. "If the talks fail because of acute
discriminatory processes, non-consultation and
not looking at the possible future of developing
countries, who really are in need of trade liberalization
and rule based trading, it'll be a sad travesty."
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