After galvanising the Group of 90 developing countries to remain united, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Friday told the World Trade Organisation chief, Pascal Lamy, that New Delhi would judge the draft compromise texts to be presented by the chairs of Doha farm and industrials negotiations on the basis of the “developmental content” as mandated in the Doha Development Agenda.
Compromise text
In an attempt to strengthen the multilateral negotiations, the two chairs for Doha farm trade negotiations and Doha industrials negotiations, Ambassadors Crawford Falconer and Ambassador Don Stephenson respectively, are going to issue their draft compromise texts by July 16.

“India would not like to advise what the draft texts must contain but we would like to ensure that the compromise drafts are in line with the Doha Development Agenda, the July 2004 framework agreement and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration,” the Commerce minister told Deccan Herald.
“The two chairs would have to deliver on the ‘developmental’ underpinnings of the Round,”  he added.
“We should not fix any artificial deadlines and allow the Chairs to come up with their texts,” he told over 70 trade envoys of the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) Group, cautioning that the texts must be “balanced” in addressing the core elements of the three Doha mandates, failing which they would further “endanger” the negotiating process.
Commenting on the breakdown of the G-4 trade ministerial meeting in Potsdam, a fortnight ago, the minister said though India has problems in accepting a high-level of ambition in industrials, it “chose” to remain with developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Caribbean who would face “severe de-industrialisation, loss of policy space” and “acute unemployment” if they were to accept a coefficient of around 18 in the Swiss formula to cut industrial tariffs.