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Kamal Nath, Paulson discuss Doha Round

Washington: Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has met U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M Paulson, within three days of a senior Bush Administration official accusing India of wrecking the Doha Round of trade talks.

Mr. Kamal Nath discussed with Mr. Paulson not only India’s position in WTO — protecting interest of poor farmers and the fledgling industries of the developing countries — but also a number of bilateral issues.

“In addition to the Doha Development Agenda, discussions touched upon the Bilateral Investment Treaty,” said a release from the Indian Embassy in the U.S..

The two sides have been trying to resolve certain contentious issues relating to BIT for quite some time. The second round of exploratory discussions on BIT is being held here. U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Christopher A Padilla had earlier this week accused India of “working behind the scenes for Doha’s demise” stating that the WTO negotiations are not a “donor’s conference”.

He had also said India had been a roadblock in success of Doha negotiations.

With uncertainty continuing on the Indo-U.S. civilian nuclear deal, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has expressed hope that at some point there will be a political consensus on the issue. “We are trying to arrive at a broad political consensus and that is what we have done,” he said during an interactive session with Talk Show Host Charlie Rose at the 33rd Anniversary celebrations of the United States India Business Council (USIBC). — PTI

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