The commerce minister said he was aware that sharp differences remained, which needed to be resolved by officials, before the ministers can collectively outline the way forward come up with fair solutions.

'In some quarters, it has been suggested that most issues have been settled and we are almost in end game,' he said, adding: 'It would be apparent that there are still a few gaps and large number of unresolved issues.'

'In some instances, the architecture of a solution is not yet fully in sight. In others, there still remain negotiating gaps that need to be sufficiently narrowed before the ministers can collectively outline the way forward come up with fair solutions.'

Earlier, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told a business conference that restrictive steps by some countries to protect their domestic markets in the wake of the global economic crisis had hurt international trade, which must remain open.

'Some countries have increased tariffs, instituted new non-tariff measures and initiated more anti-dumping actions,' Lamy told the conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

'True, none of them has triggered, so far, a tit-for-tat chain retaliation. But there is no denying they have had some trade-chilling effect,' said the director general, here at the Indian government's invitation for talks on Doha round.

'While I do not think we are in a situation where we need to cry wolf, we need to remain vigilant and ensure that WTO members remain open to one another.'