In the wake of the failed trade talks in Potsdam, Germany, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath said there was no chance of the grouping of four key WTO members breaking the deadlock in multilateral trade talks (see earlier report ‘ G4 Potsdam talks fail' ).

“It's the end of the day for the G4. Now it's for the full WTO membership to take the Doha Round forward,” Nath told reporters on his return to New Delhi .

The G4 (the US, EU, India and Brazil), representing both major industrialised economies and emerging nations, had hoped to spearhead negotiations on a global trade deal by hammering out differences on key issues.

Nath and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim walked out of crucial talks after facing fresh demands to open up their markets to industrial goods and services.

“Where agriculture is concerned, India has always maintained there can be no compromise with our subsistence farmers,” Nath said.

The minister added that there “cannot be a trade-off between prosperity and livelihood,” ruling out any future compromise.

Deciding on the terms of an agreement was more important than adhering to a schedule, Nath said. “The bottom line is more important than the deadline. The content of this Round is more important than the completion of this Round.”

“ India has always maintained that the headline of the Round is removal of distortions in global trade, represented by the agricultural subsidies given by developed countries.”

June 23, 2007