Thursday, September 28 2006 13:04 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: Terming as 'disappointing' the impasse in global trade negotiations, India today sought early resumption of WTO talks but rejected developed countries' demand for greater market access which is seen as a threat to its indigent farmers.

"Early resumption is desirable but adherence to the existing mandate is imperative... demanding market access from developing countries, which displace low-income and subsistence farmers to satisfy commercial interests, cannot be supported," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at the UN General Assembly.

"Minimising the vulnerabilities of the poor farmers must be our collective priority, " he said reminding that when agriculture was brought into the ambit of WTO talks, developing nations were clearly led to believe that trade distorting farm subsidies would be phased out in a time-bound manner.

Mukherjee said the impasse in international trade negotiations was 'disappointing' to say the least, considering the hopes raised in the Hong Kong Ministerial and the G-8 summit in Russia earlier this year.

"The overarching principle of special and differential treatment remains the cateogrical imperative and is the underlying basis of the position of developing countries," he said.