Mr Brown met his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meet(CHOGM) here on Saturday.

The meeting is being seen as a fresh effort by the British PM to inject urgency into the global trade talks.
After the meeting at Munyono Resort on the shores of Lake Victoria, Mr Brown called for a new global trade deal. He said it is important that at a time of financial turbulence “we do everything in our power to show that we can bring greater stability.”

The Doha round of trade talks were stalled repeatedly since its start in 2001, largely because of lack of consensus between the rich and poor nations over eliminating farm subsidies and barriers to manufacturing trade.

India and Brazil have been waiting for words from the US on the cut in farm subsidies and from other rich countries on how much they would cut agricultural tariffs to open their farm markets.“With the talks that are going to take place over the next few weeks, I hope we can move it to a conclusion,” said the British PM.

Financial stability

He said strong international institutions and trade deals could bring financial stability. To this, the Indian Prime Minister said, “I agree with what the Prime Minister said.”

“We need a cut in agricultural subsidies in the European and American markets, we need progress in opening up manufacturing, we need to understand the sensitivities of the farmers in India and elsewhere,” said Mr Brown.
He has also spoken to South African President Thabo Mbeki and Lesotho’s Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili during the CHOGM and sought support to drive forward the Doha trade talks.

The UK is a member of the Group of Seven — a conglomerate of industrialized countries —  and of the European Union(EU), while India and South Africa are prominent developing countries. Lesotho leads a group of poorest or least-developed countries.