NEW YORK: Agricultural subsidies must be abolished by the rich countries, said India's Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath, who is convinced these subsidies and non-tariff barriers which greatly distort the system are totally unjustified.

The Minister made the comment while addressing members of the India-America Chamber of Commerce at a Harvard Club luncheon during the latter's visit to New York recently.The next revolution in India, Nath predicted would be in agriculture. "It is a revolution waiting to happen," he said, adding that the major challenges the country is currently facing are in the field of agriculture and to ensure an all inclusive growth which touches all sections of society.

"A growth rate of 9% does not mean anything to the poor unless they too feel its impact," he said.Minister Nath denied that India was taking a tough stance in the World Trade Organization talks. "We only want a multilateral trading system that corrects the existing structural flaws in the global trade rather than perpetuate them," he said.

"The rules of the game are very important for India as it engages in the global trading system more and more."Nath said India's growth is shifting from the services to the manufacturing sector and that not only the country's exports but also imports have registered a rapid growth. "Our engagement with the world economy is $450 billion today, that's up from $200 billion three years ago," he said.During his interaction with the audience, Nath defended the protection of intellectual property rights, emphasizing that it was important as India graduates from user to producer of intellectual property. "It is aimed at the future generations of entrepreneurs who will create new products through their innovation," he said.

"Besides, it improves the credibility and standing of India in the international community as it fulfils the commitments made and translates into investments with the investors realizing that the country not only has laws but implements them too. It is credibility of India which is bringing in the investments in various sectors." In his opening remarks, Rajiv Khanna, President of IACC said, "At 60, India is getting younger everyday," as he pointed to the growing younger population of the world's largest democracy.

"India is home to 20% of the world's population under 20 and 70 % of India's population is less than 36 years old."Citing Goldman Sachs projections, Khanna said India's economy will overtake the US economy before 2050. "Even India's manufacturing sector, which by no means is its strength, is growing at 11.6%," he said.

"India's exports of merchandise are growing at 23%, net invisibles at 29% and software and BPO at 58%. India is today the fourth largest economy. Soon it will surpass Japan and become the world's third largest economy."Unlike China, India's success story is not about the dominant state which knows best, Khanna observed. "India's story is about entrepreneurship, highly competitive private companies, booming stock market and a well disciplined financial sector.

That doesn't mean that the state in India, regardless of its political affiliation, does not work tirelessly to move the country forward."India's Consul General in New York Neelam Deo and the Deputy Consul General A.R. Ghanashyam were present on the occasion.