"What really is at stake is multilateralism and future of an institution...if we want WTO to survive, which we do, then it is very important that Doha gets done," Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said in the presence of visiting Lamy here.
Khullar said that for the last two years nothing substantial has been achieved in the negotiations at Geneva (headquarters of the World Trade Organisation).
"The truth of the matter is that two years have gone by and...all we have done is round and round and skirting issues. We have not grappled. We have not negotiated. We have talks and talks, but have not got the job done...," he said.
Lamy, who is here for consultations with the Indian government and the industry to an extent agreed with Khullar over high stakes in achieving a trade-opening global deal through m ultilateral negotiations which were launched almost nine years ago without success.
"If the Doha Round was to fail, it would be the first in the history of GATT (General Agreement on Tariff and Trade) and WTO since 1948. It would weaken the only institution which governs the rules of world trade and has the ability to adjudicate in the event of dispute between countries," Lamy said.
In his speech at the Ficci function, the WTO chief said that in the recent G20 and APEC summits in Seoul and Yokohama, the leaders provided clear signals that they expect the Doha Development Round to be a deliverable next year.
Referring to the global macro-economic imbalances like currency undervaluation in some countries and loose monetary policies in others, he said these distortions do not originate in trade.
"Addressing them through trade restrictive measures will not work. Worse, it will trigger tit-for-tat protectionism," the 63-year old French serving for the second time as WTO head said.
Differences between rich and developing nations have been a stumbling block to reach an agreement.
India and other developing nations have been defending their agricultural market to protect millions subsistence farmers from easy imports that may result from the multilateral agreement.