India did not yield on any issue at the World Trade Organization Ministerial in Cancun and the fact that it brought the concerns of developing countries to centrestage reflected the success of the conference, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.
Jaitley said that the most important factor which helped the delegation in the Mexican city was unanimity of national opinion behind the broad stand that the government took after extensive consultations prior to the ministerial with political parties, trade unions, industry associations and other stakeholders.
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"The G-22 coalition on Agriculture has left its impact on the WTO Agenda," he noted.
Commenting on the outcome of four-day ministerial, he said: "The conference has concluded without reaching a consensus or a detailed Declaration. We all had come here with the hope of getting a good deal on Agriculture and on non-agricultural market access. I have a sense of satisfaction in as much as, both before and during the conference."
"India actively engaged in trade talks. We played our roles to the best of our abilities to push certain issues to the centrestage of the Agenda.
"But, I regret that the Draft Declaration which came out after three and a half days of negotiations did not properly reflect the aspirations of a very large number of WTO member countries, especially on Singapore issues and agriculture," he said.
