June 28, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 27,1424

NEW DELHI, June 27: India and China will join forces to lobby on behalf of developing countries on contentious trade issues such as agriculture and pharmaceuticals at WTO talks, Indian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

“Views of both the countries are converging on these issues and this we see as a significant development because of the size of the two economies, accounting for more than one-third of world population,” he said.

Mr Jaitley, who was speaking after his return from China with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said the landmark visit had set off a chain of discussions between trade officials of the two countries at various levels.—AFP