New Delhi: Upset over lack of progress on Special and Differential treatment issues, developing countries, including India, pressed for a clear roadmap to resolve the outstanding issues in a time-bound manner.

India, Indonesia, Mauritius (on behalf of African Group) and Bangladesh (on behalf of Least Developed Countries) have submitted a paper to WTO in this regard.

These countries have emphasised that work on S&D treatment and implementation issues should move in tandem with other outstanding ones to achieve balanced overall progress in the Doha work programme.

"A clear roadmap with specific benchmarks to fulfil the mandate on the outstanding implementation issues and S&D issues in a time-bound manner is essential," it says.

The paper, circulated in Geneva recently, points out that fulfilment of the mandate on a priority basis was extremely important to developing countries, particularly the least developing ones, and presses for an urgent need to agree on a work programme for resolving the outstanding implementation issues.

"We remain committed to engaging constructively in discussing these issues, including the need for strengthening the negotiating machinery to address this important component of the Doha Work Programme, and expect active engagement and political will from all members towards this objective," the co-sponsors of the paper which included Trinidad and Tobago stated.