India dumped from meet on Doha

India has been excluded from a high-profile meeting of the European Union, the US and Brazil that is attempting to hammer out an agreement on the Doha trade negotiations in London, trade diplomats said.

The two-day senior officials' meeting began on Monday at an unknown destination in London to address the specific concerns among the three members, diplomats argued.

The new triad is going to sort out differences on the critical issues in the Doha market-opening for industrials and agriculture packages ahead of the next month's ministerial meeting in Geneva.

Up until now, India is part of what is called the Group of Four "" the US, the EU, Brazil and India "" that held rounds of informal meetings to address issues pertaining to reduction commitments in agricultural subsidies and tariffs, and cuts in industrial products.

Last year, the G-4 meeting collapsed in Potsdam, Germany, because of unbridgeable differences between the US and the EU on the one side, and Brazil and India on the other over how to liberalise trade in industrial goods.

Subsequently, the US, the EU and Brazil held one-on-one private meetings without India to see how far they could stitch an acceptable package to address their specific concerns.

This is the first time that India did not figure in the Group of Four countries, a European trade envoy told Business Standard, suggesting it was "unusual" that such a meeting is taking place without the participation of India. "There could be two reasons "" either India chose to stay away, or it has not been invited," the envoy said, arguing that "in either case it does not augur well for the negotiations".

An Indian trade official said New Delhi was not invited for the meeting, arguing that it would be difficult to participate in such meetings at a time when decisions have to be arrived through a multilaterally transparent process.

He said even when India participated in the G-4 meetings it ensured that the concerns of all developing countries based on the Doha mandates are adequately addressed.

Also, this is not the time for finalising side agreements when most of the members want results, the official said.

The two-day meeting specifically convened at the EU's initiative will squarely focus on how to overcome differences over the revised draft text on market-opening for industrials, especially the flexibilities that ought to be provided for developing countries.

The chair's revised text has caused considerable problems for many developing countries.

Indian trade envoy Ambassador Ujal Singh Bhatia said the revised draft text has not properly reflected the concerns of developing countries, suggesting that it went against the principle of less than full reciprocity.