The Hindu Business Line : US not opposed to outsourcing, wants opening of markets: Rocca

THE Bush Government has made it known that though it was not opposed to outsourcing and was not involved in India bashing, it expected in exchange, "an opening of markets in India and other countries which in turn provide more jobs in America".

The Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ms Christina Rocca, made this point at a Congressional hearing at the Asia Pacific Sub-Committee of the House International Relations Committee.

The Senior State Department official, in response to another question, said that consular officials in India were taking the issue of visa fraud "very, very seriously".

A member of the House panel argued that outsourcing was not necessarily the major concern, but the disregard for visa processes, especially in the H-1B and L1 categories, was a worrying trend.

"I think the US trade representative has made it clear that we do not oppose the outsourcing. What we would like to see in exchange is an opening of markets in India and other countries, which in turn provide more jobs in the US...But I don't think you've heard any India bashing on the part of the administration with respect to outsourcing of jobs," said Ms Rocca maintaining that opening of markets in India "would also help the furore die down because it would ...increase a lot of jobs here and elsewhere as well".

Congressman Mr Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado, who frequently deals with immigration issues, argued that, apart from those in the H-1B and L1 categories who have run their course in terms of the time frame, the fraudulent nature of some applicants who came into this country had to be addressed urgently.

"Many of the people who came... not because they were... as the category demands `uniquely qualified', but because they would work for less... the whole world knows that's the truth. The Indian Government has agreed that that's the case," Mr Tancredo said. He added that attention was now shifting from H 1B to L 1 visas.

"Now the same thing is happening with L 1. Because the cap has gone down on H-1B and, because there's been a lot of attention focussed on it, a shift has occurred in the L-1 category because it has no cap... we're seeing an explosion in the number of L 1 category visas," Mr Tancredo said.

He asked what the State department was doing to ensure there was no misuse of the visa process, especially and in the context of "a whole industry developing" in India to provide the kind of documentary evidence that was needed.

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