Government officials played down the consequences of a failure to reach a deal as pressure mounted on New Delhi to relent. "We have made a new proposal to WTO," Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said late on Thursday, adding that this was within the "broader contours of what we had proposed earlier".
He went on to say, "The Bali deal won't collapse if we do not sign the trade facilitation by tonight," seeking to counter the high-decibel campaign by developed countries that collapse of the Bali agreement would be a death blow to the WTO.
India has been insisting that it would not agree to the TFA unless the entire Bali package, which includes allowing developing countries to buy food from farmers for food security needs, is simultaneously firmed up.
India had suggested the complete package could be sewn up by December 31, in time for the July 31, 2015, deadline for the rollout of trade facilitation.
Sources in Geneva told ET that an informal meeting of heads of delegations was on to deliberate the issue.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also indicated that some efforts were on to break the stalemate.
"Consultations are underway in Geneva. Let us wait for the final outcome," she said at a joint press conference with the visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry said it was possible to accommodate India's concerns within the Bali framework.
"We do not dismiss the concerns India has about large numbers of poor people who require some sort of food assurance at subsistence level. But we believe there is a way to provide for that that keeps faith with the WTO Bali agreement," he said. "So we are obviously encouraging our friends in India to try to find a path here where there is compromise that meets both needs."
India's proposal was a counter to the one sent by WTO director general Roberto Azevedo on Wednesday that was more along the lines of a detailed timeline for a permanent solution to the food security issue.
"That is not acceptable to us. We want something concrete, hence have sent a counter proposal, which has substance," said a commerce department official, without disclosing details.
"Our proposal is a solution, if they accept it. We are talking of substance, they are talking of process. There is some gap. They believe that July 31 is a dealbreaker, we do not believe that. We have made a very compelling proposal," said the official.
"Our stand remains the same," commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told reporters earlier on Thursday after meeting US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker who accompanied Kerry for the annual strategic dialogue with India, hoping that a deal would be reached.
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