Large economic powers led by the United States and European Union should stop their `bullying tactics' to facilitate emergence of an equitable world economic order, Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Saturday.
"India strongly favours total openness and transparency in world trade and the US and EU should stop their bullying tactics to enable the emergence of a more equitable world economic order," Rudy, a former Union minister of state for commerce, said at a seminar on 'Relavance of WTO in Indian Trade and Commerce', in Patna.
After the Doha round, India's persistent opposition to World Trade Organisation regulations loaded heavily against developing nations earned it great respect among the poor countries, he said, adding, the prophets of doom who predicted India would be isolated in the WTO were proved wrong.
India had now emerged as a key player in the WTO by championing the cause of developing economies, Rudy added.
The minister said the global powers while wanting the poor nations to slash subsidies on agriculture continued to greatly subsidise their own products rendering the produce of growing economies uncompetitive in the world market.
''The economically powerful countries spent a whopping amount of money every day in subsidies on agriculture and want us to do away with subsidies to our agriculture. How can India whose economy is agriculture-centric in a significant measure afford this?" he said.
Referring to the open sky policy for civil aviation, Rudy said, they imposed ''severe restrictions on us.''
He also said the US did not want the developing nations to reap the benefits of advancement in medicine by producing drugs under a licence to fight diseases like dengue, Sars and AIDS.
Stating that India was making impressive strides in trade, Rudy said, ''Our exports have gone up to $53-54 billion annually and are poised to improve even further.''
Stating that India ought to further strengthen the competitive capability of its industry, services, manufacturing and agriculture sector by providing suitable infrastructural support and incentives, he deplored that a resource-rich state like Bihar was found lacking on all vital parameters of development.