New Delhi, June 17: India today made out a strong case for getting a bigger share of the world trade for its textiles, agriculture and services exports.

According to a commerce ministry press release, India came out with an eight-point agenda asking developed countries to bring about a level-playing field in the global trading system and the WTO trade negotiations.

“We need to break from the traditional pattern of developed countries seeking special carve-outs and protection on grounds of their so-called sensitivity in areas like agriculture, textiles, mode 4 (movement of professionals) and outsourcing of services,” India’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN Hardip Puri is reported to have stated.

Listing out a strategy at the Unctad XI meeting in Sao Paulo, he said trade rules should give better access to labour-intensive exports of goods like textiles and more scope for the mobility of labour in developing countries.

He pointed out that trade barriers like tariffs, which are currently being reduced, should not be replaced by other more sophisticated market barriers like sanitary and phyto-sanitary, environment and other standards and complex rules of origin.

Textiles provide employment and sustenance to 35 million people directly and 58 million indirectly, cutting across the rural and urban divide in India.

Unctad has projected an increase of 27 million jobs and $40 billion in export revenues from the liberalisation of the textiles trade when the multi-fibre arrangement quota restraints placed on developing countries’ exports of textiles and clothing end on January 1, 2005.