New Delhi, Nov 25: Doha was no doubt the late Murasoli Maran’s finest hour. What he did at that WTO ministerial was best summed up by Union law minister Arun Jaitley: “But for him, the entire developing world would have lost the battle at Cancun.” As India’s chief negotiator, Mr Maran among other things insisted on certain clauses — for example, on the need for “explicit consensus” to discuss the modalities of the so-called Singapore issues — in the Doha draft that later came to the rescue of developing countries at Cancun. Although trade policy experts may quibble over his stand on the Singapore issues, which include investment, competition policy, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement or the extent to which he pushed textiles and garment matters, nobody will deny that Doha’s agenda got equated with India’s, and India’s agenda in turn got equated with Mr Maran’s. Nobody will also deny that India’s new found aggressiveness in trade policy was also due to Mr Maran, which Mr Jaitley dutifully carried forward at the Cancun ministerial. Honouring what he did at Doha therefore is the best tribute that can be paid to him. To be fair, however, mention must also be made of his other contributions to the industry and commerce portfolios that he held. As industry minister during 1996-98 and since October 1999, he was instrumental in formulating policies such as attracting more FDI on a sustained basis that earned him his reputation as one of the reform-minded ministers in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. Joining the Union cabinet as commerce minister in October 1999, Mr Maran anchored trade policy reforms. Although he was chief negotiator earlier at the Seattle ministerial in 1999, he left his imprint at Doha.