As the Doha round was slung into the deep freeze on Monday there were several views but no agreement about if and when it could be thawed again.

Certainly there were few attempts on Monday, in contrast to earlier setbacks, to pretend that negotiators needed more time to explore each others’ positions. “The round is not dead,” said Kamal Nath, the Indian trade minister. “But it is definitely between intensive care and the crematorium.”