Getting Aggressive Just days before Doha meet, minister says India will walk out if developed countries do not free up trade in services New Delhi, July 16: Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath told reporters today that unless India gets clear binding commitments from the US, the European Union and other developed countries to liberalise trade in services, there will be no deal in the WTO whatsoever. This comes just days before the commencement of the mini-ministerial meeting of the Doha round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on July 21. The issue of freeing up trade in services "will be aggressively addressed', said Nath. Exports of services comprise about 40 per cent of total Indian exports and the service sector accounts for 55 per cent of the GDP. In light of these facts and considering that the US and the EU are the biggest foreign consumers of Indian services, a service agreement will be a key component in the upcoming meeting. Apart from binding commitments, said Nath, India will also insist on more relaxed immigration regulations in developed countries. Addressing concerns over certain contentious clauses in the revised draft for non-agricultural market access (NAMA) released by the WTO, Nath said that the text is not an agreement and there will be no compromises from India's side on these issues. "There cannot be any agreement in industrial or agricultural products which creates or demands any sort of liberalisation in sensitive sectors such as automobiles, textiles or chemicals,' said Nath. Referring to the anti-concentration clause in the NAMA text, which prohibits a country from protecting all the sensitive products in a sector/sub-sector, Nath said that the 5 per cent flexibility offered in this regard is too low and will not be accepted. Nath emphasised the importance of the livelihood concerns of Indian subsistence farmers in the context of WTO negotiations and said that there is no package being offered at present that India can agree to. "The Special Safeguards Mechanism and Special Products (meant for protecting agriculture from imports) are not negotiable. They are make or break issues,' he said. He added that India would keep pushing for cuts in farm subsidies in developed nations. Developing country members of the WTO have been demanding the US and other developed countries cut down their "trade distorting' subsidies in agriculture. "We don't want elimination of their farm subsidies, but at least a substantial correction,' said Nath.