NEW DELHI, Aug 6:
The Congress today urged the Government to take the Opposition parties in confidence on any multilateral negotiations at the World Trade Organisation. “The negotiating stance of the Government at the WTO should have
a broad national consensus,” Anand Sharma of the Congress said while seeking clarifications on the statement by Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman on India’s stand at the WTO. Mr Sharma lamented that while the previous UPA Government regularly consulted the Opposition parties on negotiations at WTO, a similar courtesy was not extended by the NDA. “When we were in the Government, we regularly consulted the Leader of the Opposition and leaders of other political parties. Why was this courtesy not extended this time,” Mr Sharma said. He said what was required to resolve the impasse was for India to take a leadership position in the negotiations. Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress also stressed the need to take the Opposition into confidence in the negotiations. K C Tyagi of the Janata Dal (United) expressed concern over a clause at the WTO that the minimum support price should not be increased.
”If the WTO conditions are accepted, the farmers will not get adequate price of his produce. Adequate safeguards in this regard should be included in the WTO agreement,” Mr Tyagi said. Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M said the effort of the Government should be to move forward on the Bali agreement which gives a four-year period to parties to reach an agreement. He wanted to know whether India was prepared to put on the agenda of the WTO the subsidy on non trade measures. He also stressed on the need to take up with the WTO the right of the members to universalise food security. ”This right cannot be diluted by an international organisation as it is a sovereign right,” Mr Yechury said. He also wanted to know why the countries which were with India at Bali had not been with us.
K P Ramalingam (DMK), S S Dhindsa (SAD), D Raja (CPI), Narendra Kumar Kashyap (BSP), Shantaram Naik (Cong), Bhupender Yadav (BJP), Sudershan Nachiappan (Cong) and Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu (Cong) also spoke. (UNI)
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