New Delhi, Oct 22: Commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran is leading the Indian delegation to the pre-Seattle meeting of important WTO-member countries being held in Lausanne (Switzerland) on October 25 and 26.Maran will be accompanied by NK Singh, secretary in the Prime Minister's office, and PP Prabhu, commerce secretary.The Lausanne meeting, which is taking place barely five weeks before the opening of the third ministerial conference of the WTO in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, is basically intended to initiate a political dialogue at the ministerial level to facilitate consensus building among the key players on the issues at stake in Seattle and to clarify their views.
Maran is also scheduled to have a meeting with Pascal Lamy, trade commissioner of the European Union. He will also have bilateral meetings with ministers from Egypt, Brazil, Japan etc.The minister is expected to have an interaction also with ministers from the Cairns group of major agricultural exporting countries in Lausanne. Around 25 major WTO members, including the QUAD countries - the US, EU, Japan and Canada -- the Cairns group of ministers and several other member countries will participate in the meeting.
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