India for eliminating trade barriers

V Mohan Narayan

ST PETERSBURG: Voicing serious concern at rising protectionism in developed countries, India and four other countries attending the outreach meeting of the G-8
on Monday made a strong pitch for eliminating subsidies, high tariffs and other trade barriers generating distortions in the world agricultural market.

The Doha round of WTO is the best chance to open world markets, level the playing field, share wealth and create jobs, the outreach countries comprising India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico said in a "position paper" to the G-8 summit.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh joined Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders for the outreach session here to discuss a range of issues including energy security,
education, infectious diseases and world trade.

Leaders of the outreach countries later met heads from the G-8 countries, with Singh urging them to come out with a united stand on combating terrorism and not a segmented approach.

The discussions spilled over a working lunch.

The G-8 comprises the US, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy, France, Russia and Canada.