Is it mere posturing both by US and India?

However, the moot point is at what point will these efforts break even? A new President of the United States of America has an opportunity on hand to take a fresh look at the present situation and undertake and conclude his review and return to the negotiating table, as soon as possible. It needs to be realized that there is greater relevance of MTR today when the world economy is still not out of woods of recession. However, the US does have its own "domestic compulsions". As is well known, a Democrat-dominated US Government is not known to be inclined towards making the kind of compromises necessary to facilitate the further opening up of the US economy to trade, particularly on the issues of agriculture, and now in the aftermath of the crisis, industrial subsidies. The US has shown its propensity to be overly "protective" and not inclined towards free trade.

However, there are indicators that neither India nor the US is really keen about the forthcoming WTO talks. According to a senior Commerce Ministry official, "The new Obama administration has neither appointed chief negotiators for industry or agriculture talks at WTO, nor an ambassador to Geneva even after six months of having taken over. The deputy US Trade Representative has only been appointed recently. It is pointless to send our negotiators to Geneva when there is no one to talk to, except some flunkeys who cant be expected to make any commitments." Says another official, "With its own economy in shambles and issues like healthcare reforms and climate change expected to take precedence in the US Congress agenda, the Doha Round will have to wait. Several US political representatives have already said that the Doha Round, in its current shape, is not acceptable to them."

And yet, neither the US nor India would like to be seen as stalling the talks so as to give further credence to the Pascal Lamy painting both India and the US as two key 'spoilers' of the Doha Round. It is in this context that the US Trade Representative Ron Kirks promised "fresh approach" to Doha negotiations made at global farm trade discussions at Bali. In the same way, even Anand Sharmas statement that "the impasse has been broken" need to be seen in that light and accepted with a pinch of salt.

So where do we stand today? At Square One. I ruefully conclude.

The views presented are author's personal views. Here 'I' refers to him.