HONG KONG, Dec 13: India will support Pakistan’s proposal for seeking a deeper cut in tariffs on industrial goods of rich countries in the current round of negotiations at the ministerial conference.

Talking to Dawn here on Tuesday, Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said India was comfortable with the Pakistani proposal, although a similar formula called (ABI) proposal had also been tabled by New Delhi in collaboration with Brazil and Argentina.

“I have a confidence and appreciated the selection of Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Humayun Akthar Khan as facilitator for negotiations on non-agriculture market access (NAMA). We are confident that he would defend the concerns of developing countries in the negotiations,” he remarked.

In reply to a question, he said that Pakistan’s proposal on NAMA was closer to that of the ABI proposal. He said India and Pakistan were active members of the G-20 and had a similar stance on reduction in tariffs and elimination of export subsidies and domestic support. “The G-20 declaration issued here also reaffirmed our commitment towards free trade.”

Elaborating further, the minister said Indian was proposing cuts in bound tariff at a range of around 50 per cent in case there was any mover in other areas of negotiations. Mr Nath linked the success of the Hong Kong ministerial conference to changes in the perception and positions of the US and EU countries, particularly on agriculture issues.

Answering a question, he said “no offer would be made in other areas like NAMA or services” in case there was no consensus among the member countries on the important issue of agriculture. He cautioned against converting the Doha round from a development round to a market access round.

The Indian minister said the G-20 proposal was a middle way as against the two extreme positions of the US and the EU on the agriculture sector. Mr Nath said in the services sector, the rich countries were reluctant to give market access in the areas of cross-border services and movement of unskilled labour to their market. “Certainly, we would like to get a balance in all modes of services. There has to be a balance,” he asserted.

In reply to another question, the Indian minister said the EU should have something in pocket to bring back the stalled negotiations on the table. He said there was no difference among G-20 member countries on the issue of agriculture. “This is clear from the fact that despite divergence in opinion we are still together,” the minister added.