Schwab said she agreed with Kamal Nath's "sense of momentum and objective about achieving successful conclusions of the Doha Round as soon as possible", and added that US President George Bush was committed to the successful conclusion of this round in 2008 before his term gets over.

"This is a development round," Schwab said. "There is really need for a round that generates economic growth, economic development, alleviates poverty, and we feel a sense of momentum, a sense of urgency and the need to move ahead as expeditiously as possible."

Describing her dialogue with Kamal Nath as "constructive", Schwab said: "We have a sense of the path forward, both working together and working with our other colleagues in WTO to see if we can make this happen both for the sake of the Indian economy, for the sake of the US economy and the sake of the economies of our trading partners."

She conceded that the two sides had issues on subsidies but said they also agreed that it had to be part of the negotiations.

"The key is to act in a way that would generate growth and development and to be respectful of each other's ambitions and sensitivities and try to nudge each other and our trading partners to go as far as possible to get the maximum possible benefit for each other and for the world," she said.