Sharing India's continued frustration over the poor progress in the global trade talks, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar on Friday warned that reaching a Doha deal was crucial for survival of the multilateral trading system itself.
“What really is at stake is multilateralism and future of an institution. If we want WTO to survive, which we do, then it is important that Doha gets done,'' Mr. Khullar said in the presence of visiting WTO Director General Pascal Lamy at the FICCI function here.
Mr. Khullar said that in the last two years nothing substantial had been achieved in the negotiations at WTO headquarters in Geneva. “The truth of the matter is that two years have gone by and all we have done is round and round and skirting issues. We have not grappled. We have not negotiated. We have talks and talks, but have not got the job done,'' he said.