This was after Kerry told Modi that India's position on the issue was sending confusing signals to the international community. Kerry's meeting with Modi saw the two leaders elaborating on their respective positions on the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) versus food subsidy in a forceful manner — even though officials insisted there was no spat — with Modi insisting that the interest of the poor was paramount.
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"I am more concerned about the small Indian farmer, even though I believe the trade facilitation agreement is good for India," Modi said. The PM was responding to Kerry who told him the failure to get a WTO deal "undermines" Modi's message of India being open for business. The India-US strategic dialogue has been clouded by the Indian blockade of the trade facilitation agreement, as the talks failed in Geneva on Thursday night.
"The first responsibility of my government is to the poorest people of the country. While we don't oppose the agreement, we believe that the needs of those living on the margins of society, not just in India but elsewhere too, have to be addressed," Modi told Kerry in the meeting.
Modi also focused on security, telling Kerry he wanted to unite South Asia into an integrated economic community. But more important, Modi reaffirmed India's decision to continue assistance to Afghanistan.
Using the opportunity of the WTO discussion, the PM "emphasized the need for developed countries to understand the challenges of poverty in developing countries and their governments' responsibilities in addressing them, when discussions take place in international forums", a PMO statement said. Modi said Indian concerns applied both to the WTO and climate change negotiations where developing countries' interests would have to be met.
Modi told Kerry that US farm sizes could not be compared to Indian marginal farmers and therefore a solution had to be found for the food security problem. India has said food security discussions should be held simultaneously with the TFA or food prices should reflect current prices.
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A background briefing by senior US officials said Kerry "made the comment that while we understand India's food security concerns, the trade facilitation agreement is one that will bring tremendous benefit to emerging economies and particularly to the world's poor, and India's actions, therefore, are not in keeping with the prime minister's vision, and urged that India work with the US to quickly come up with next steps that would allow this to be brought back into focus, that it is not in India's interest for a solution to be made that does not include India".
At the meeting with Kerry, Modi was accompanied by his national security team, including foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, NSA Ajit Doval, foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and the Indian ambassador to the US.
The Indian side has not been particularly impressed by the quality of dialogue with the US. Apart from the exhausting laundry list of things that the two nations do, which many felt was completely unnecessary, there was a feeling on the Indian side that the US was not completely invested, which was reflected in Kerry's inattention during his meeting with Swaraj, where he kept leaving to take phone calls.
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