WTO talks sour as 'blame game' begins

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

GENEVA (AFP) — The United States, China and India exchanged hard words as WTO negotiations dragged into a second week on Monday, with Washington accusing India and China of hampering progress to a world trade pact, delegates said.

"The blame game has started. The US began by pointing its finger at India and China, and then China retorted sharply," a diplomat in the meeting told AFP.

Delegates from all of the 153 member states of the World Trade Organization were meeting this morning when the accusations flew.

The United States accused India and China of threatening to shatter a fragile deal reached by key parties in Geneva over the week, according to a statement obtained by AFP.

"All their invocations of development during the past years ring hollow...