Sunday, December 11 2005 15:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: India and China, 'heavyweight' members of the G-33, must step up their cooperation at next week's WTO Ministerial to safeguard their interests, Member of Planning Commission, Anwarul Hoda has said.

In the current Doha Round, the G20, of which both India and China are members, has stood up to the US and the European Commission in demanding that the manifestly unfair trading system in agriculture should not be perpetuated, he said.

"The developing countries have already succeeded in obtaining agreement on the elimination of all forms of export subsidies and they are now trying to secure agreement on really meaningful reduction of domestic support," Hoda said in a keynote speech at the first China-India Summit for Economic and Trade Promotion hosted by the India China Trade Centre and China Economic Cooperation Centre here.

He noted that in the services negotiations, India's major interest lies in securing liberalization in developed countries in Mode 4, or the temporary relocation of service providers. China is supportive of India's efforts, he said.

In Non-Agricultural Market Accession (NAMA), one of China's demands is that newly acceded countries that have undertaken substantial commitments in the course of the accession process should be accorded flexibility on a comprehensive basis in the application of the modalities.

India has generally supported this demand, Hoda said. "By such cooperation in the WTO, India and China greatly strengthen each other and increase the possibility of their aims being fulfilled. India and China must seek every opportunity to deepen their cooperation in the WTO," he said ahead of the Sixth WTO Ministerial in Hong Kong.