New Delhi: India today (November 23) blasted developed nations for being reluctant to phase out agriculture subsidies over $ 360 billion even as it favoured a successful trade negotiation at World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"Cancun is not equivalent to WTO. Please don't measure WTO from the failure to achieve results", Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said defending India's stance for articulating developing nations' demand for increased market access.

"It is not motivated for equal trade as there are many in-built preferential provisions", he said, pointing to large agriculture subsidies given by developed nations amounting to to $ 1.0 billion a day.

Defending the food subsidies provided in India, he said it was aimed at ensuring food security to over one billion population of the country.

"Nobody on earth will feed one billion citizens. Food security is a must and I will have to continue to offer subsidies even if it is painful," Singh said.

He said the member nations at WTO should not feel "defeated" after Cancun round and India was ready to work shoulder-to-shoulder for the successful completion of Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations.

Stressing on a more robust Indo-US economic relation, Singh, a former External Affairs Minister, said "the US have to move away from their prejudices and rigidities. We have to refuel the partnership."

"We discussed mostly politics and not economics. But we need to continue and engage ourselves to have a robust economic relation, which almost remained an uncharted territory," he added.

PTI