New Delhi, Feb. 29 -- By the end of the third day of the World Trade Organization's meeting in Abu Dhabi, hopes of adopting new agreements that could transform world trade were replaced with disappointment.

It became clear that hard negotiations and compromises would be required to get some of the agreements that had been already or nearly finalised into the declaration. The Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, for instance, has run into rough weather due to objections by India and South Africa.

The Abu Dhabi session of the WTO's four-day biennial meeting of trade ministers had begun on an optimistic note with Timor-Leste and Comoros, among the least developed countries, joining the global trade body. This increased ...