The US has asked India and Brazil, the two developing economies, to bring 'more' to the table at Doha by way of 'increased responsibility' and 'positive contribution'.
"India has a long and proud and powerful tradition as a leader in the North-South issues, debates. The fundamental difference between the Doha Round and the previous trade Rounds is that this is not a North-South issue. This is a round where we need to see a fundamental shift in alliances," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said.
"They are not alliances based on levels of development, not based on geography. These are alliances based on shared economic interests," Schwab told a gathering of top business leaders and executives at the 33rd Anniversary of the United States India Business Council.
"Yet there are blocs of countries that are unified because of 'developing country solidarity'," she said.
"The healthiest and the most positive aspect of the Doha Round is the presence and influence of countries like India and Brazil. But it is only a really good thing with a positive outcome if that increased role is accompanied by increased responsibility and a positive contribution to the outcome," Schwab said.
She said India needs to articulate its self interests in seeing other advanced developing countries open their markets in the Doha Round.
"No single country, not the United States, not India, is in a position to solve Doha round. There is no silver bullet," Schwab said.
"There are countries out there involved in the round who are pushing for the lowest common denominator outcome. If those countries continue to be listened to or catered to . . . then we've got a serious problem," Schwab said.
The Doha Round is 'eminently doable' Schwab remarked but not without words of caution and warning. "It takes only a handful of countries to bring this to a screeching halt."
"We need India to play a positive and constructive role," she added.
Stressing that trade is a positive exercise and not to be seen as a zero sum game, she warned that there will be no Doha Round if the fundamentals are not addressed properly.
"There are a lot of important issues in Doha that we will never get to unless we have a breakthrough...in agriculture, manufacturing, services and market access . . .
There will be no Doha Round if we don't get the fundamentals right," she said.
"This is a Round where we are talking about the future. This is not the Uruguay Round... The environment is very different," the USTR emphasised.
On the Bilateral Investment Treaty that the US and India are working on, Schwab said currently technical consultations are going on between the two countries.
"BIT is a gift we give ourselves," Schwab said.
More from rediff