"India's position in the WTO is that at no cost will there be any compromise on the agriculture issues. There cannot be a trade off in agriculture for any other gain we get in the WTO," Nath told the Economic Editors Conference Thursday in New Delhi.

Nath's stance on current agricultural negotiations in the so-called Doha round raises concerns about the level of ambition at the upcoming ministerial in Hong Kong next month, which has faced a logjam over the reduction of agricultural subsidies and tariffs.

The Indian minister, echoing similar sentiments made by the European Union in recent days, said his government was totally committed to ensuring that Indian farmers' interests would be safeguarded regardless of whether other nations make deeper cuts on tariffs and expanded market access.

Since last week's failed talks in Geneva with trade ministers from the five interested parties -- the United States, EU, Australia, Brazil and India -- the Bush administration has been trying to reach out to counterparts in India, West Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim to increase pressure on the EU to make further concessions on reducing its agricultural tariffs and subsidies.

But while ministers are expected to reconvene next week in Geneva in the hopes of ironing out a finalized agenda for next month's meeting, India's and the EU's refusal to show greater flexibility in agricultural negotiations may stall talks even further.

"We're trying to push as hard as we can up till the buzzer to get as much as we can out of this Hong Kong process. We don't want to lower expectations. Let's see where we can use this meeting to make progress, let's not manufacture barriers to progress," a U.S. trade official told United Press International in a telephone interview, adding India's comments would not block talks next week.

Since the onset of agricultural negotiations, New Delhi has been concerned about import competition and has been resistant to opening up its markets in long-protected sectors.

The Indian minister, who met with U.S. counterpart Rob Portman last weekend to discuss strengthening bilateral trade relations, on Thursday criticized the U.S. proposal on agriculture as "not real cuts."

"What the U.S. had proposed last month are not real cuts. It would still allow them to raise trade-distorting subsidies to their farmers. The real cuts would be when there is decline in the support provided by the U.S. Treasury," said Nath.

India, which has had a long-protected system for import competition, is concerned about opening up its markets especially as major trading partners continue to pressurize the EU to make further cuts in agricultural tariffs.

"They see the U.S. and other countries putting the pressure on Europe to come to the table and open its market. They're concerned that if Europe succumbs to this pressure and actually allows import competition that it could set an expectation that the Indians will have to open their markets as well," said the U.S. trade official.

The United States, Australia and Brazil have criticized the EU for the stalemate because of the bloc's resistance to greater market access and further reducing tariffs and subsidies. France, the EU's largest agriculture producer, has threatened to veto any trade agreement that lowers farm payments and duties on food imports unless other nations agree to reduce tariffs on industrial products and open services markets.

The Bush administration disagreed with Nath's assessment of the U.S. proposal. The United States contends its cuts in tariffs and trade-distorting support are ambitious and meaningful.

India, which leads the Group of 20 developing countries with Brazil, has demanded deeper cuts in trade-distorting support by developed countries by 70 percent, something Washington argues is "within the range" of the U.S. proposal, which stands at 60 percent.

The United States also argues in terms of market access it offers more progressive cuts than the G-20, offering a 55 to 90 percent cut, rather than the G-20's proposal, which promises a 45 to 75 percent cut.

Developing countries have also called for more lenient tariff cuts ranging from 25 to 40 percent, while calling on developed countries to make 45 to 75 percent tariff cuts.

"The G-20 is not very ambitious in terms of what developing countries will do. They themselves are not offering very much here," said the U.S. trade official. "This is where we are continuing dialogue with them about the need to have all countries go to a more market oriented system and open markets and have more competition by cutting tariffs."

Portman who returned from his 10-day world tour Thursday said it was critical to meet with trading counterparts ahead of the upcoming ministerial to bridge gaps and build consensus.

"I believe it is critical to reach out to as many of our trading partners as possible to develop a better understanding of each others' position and identify areas of common interest," said Portman. "The constructive meetings we've held over the last ten days lay the groundwork for building consensus in the Doha negotiations and in our bilateral relationships."

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