Associated Press | August 9, 2001 | By RAJESH MAHAPATRA, Associated Press Writer
NEW DELHI, India - The United States put more pressure on India Thursday to agree to a new round of global trade negotiations, saying the South Asian nation would be the biggest loser otherwise.
"A new round would be 'win-win' for India," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick told a gathering of Indian business and industry leaders.
Zoellick said Wednesday that he was in New Delhi to better understand India's concerns about implementation issues in multilateral trade. By Thursday, he had hardened his stand to say India would do better by not delaying its consent for a new round of talks within the World Trade Organization.
He said that India, with its potential in areas like information technology, pharmaceuticals and agriculture, would benefit from a more open global trading system. India, he said, could also play an important role in shaping the agenda for renewed negotiations of trade liberalization if it agreed to the proposal soon.
India's government and business community have been hesitant about a new round of trade talks. Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran said last week that India would not commit to a new round until the WTO corrects imbalances in the way existing agreements work.
Most developing countries, including India, have serious differences with the United States and the European Union over patents, farm subsidies and trade-related investment rules.
They want the WTO to sort out these differences before bringing new issues to the negotiating table at a November meeting of trade ministers in Doha, Qatar.
Zoellick said India's trade relations with the United States would significantly improve if both nations worked together in the global trading system.
The United States is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 22 percent of India's total exports.
On Wednesday, he announced the U.S. government's decision to allow $540 million annually in duty-free imports from India as a gesture to improve bilateral ties.Associated Press:
