Kamal Nath said India's main concern was agriculture and unless its sensitivities were taken on board, it would not be able to exercise flexibility.
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday said global trade negotiators are closer than ever before to conclude the Doha Round of WTO talks, but asserted it will not compromise the interests of its poor farmers to strike a deal.
"Where we are today, it is closer than ever before to closing the Doha Round. In the next two months, I hope we will be able to find some convergence in it," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told industry leaders at a conference organised by US business magazine 'Fortune'.
He said India's main concern was on the issue of agriculture and unless its sensitivities were taken on board, it would not be able to exercise flexibility in other areas.
India, Brazil and other developing countries have been asking rich nations like the US and European Union to cut farm subsidies, while resisting the pressure mounted the developed nations for reducing industrial tariffs.
The Doha Round is running way behind schedule as the rich and poor nations have failed to reach a consensus on the controversial issues.
Nath said he was willing to negotiate commerce but not willing to negotiate subsistence farmers and livelihood security. Member countries are keen to find convergence at the Round, which can be concluded if sensitivities of the nations in agriculture and industrial products are respected, he said.
His statement found an echo in Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who expressed concerns over the growing tendency among advanced economies to erect non-tariff barriers.
"Even as we find trade barriers being reduced by rich countries, we also find that new non-tariff barriers are being erected," he said at the Fortune Global Forum on Tuesday.
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