"I think there is a good chance because Europe wants it and the United States wants it," he told AFP in an interview.

Nath dismissed alternatives to completing the troubled Doha round of development talks, saying: "Why should we look at alternatives when I am quite optimistic that we will complete it?"

The Indian minister holds a key position along with counterparts from Brazil and South Africa as an interlocutor between developing countries the World Trade Organisation talks are meant to benefit and industrialized countries such as the United States and members of the European Union.

Nath said he wanted to hammer out an intermediate accord "in the next few weeks so that by the end of the year we have an agreement" on reducing import tariffs on agricultural products and greater market access for industrial goods and services.

Negotiations among the 149 trading nations in the WTO were launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 and meant to wrap up in 2004. But they remain deadlocked with the United States under pressure to cut farmers' subsidies and the EU asked to make deeper cuts in farm import tariffs.

"You've got to take the bull by the horns," Nath said, stressing that "the bedrock of this round is development."