• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Insists on forward movement by US to further services trade

New Delhi May 16 The Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, has said that the US move on utilisation of the special H1-B visa by Indian IT companies restricting movement of skilled professionals would have an adverse impact on the rapidly expanding services trade.

The Minister has warned that it would be difficult for India to enhance its commitments in the services negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) unless there is forward movement by trading partners such as the US in such areas.

An official statement released here, points out that the Minister would raise this issue not only with the US Trade Representative, Ms Susan Schwab, but also at the G-4 meetings scheduled to be begin in Brussels on Thursday.

The statement adds that the Minister has expressed surprise at the form and content of the letter written by two members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee to some prominent Indian IT companies.

"Issues such as work visas are inter-governmental in nature and should be dealt with accordingly. Temporary movement of skilled professionals is an essential component of the global services economy and bears no relation to immigration issues. Any move which creates uncertainty and unpredictability about such movements will naturally have an adverse impact on the rapidly expanding services trade," the statement quotes the Minister as saying.

Mr Nath further pointed out that in recent years, India and the US have significantly expanded their bilateral engagement in services trade to each others mutual advantage. "The importance of knowledge-based services trade in the trade basket is a unique feature of India-US trade.

"For quite some time now, we have been discussing with the US regarding further liberalisation of their regime for movement of skilled professionals to facilitate further expansion of this trade. At this juncture, we would be extremely concerned if there are efforts to circumscribe the existing levels of liberalisation in this area in the US," Mr Nath added.

The statement points out that in previous meetings the Minister had informed Ms Schwab that while India continues to liberalise its services economy, it expects at least equal movement from important trading partners like the US in areas of its interest such as Mode-4.

"Unless we see forward movement in such areas, it will be difficult for India to enhance its commitments in the services negotiations," the Minister said.

More Stories on : Human Resources | Policy | Travel & Places

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Raja gives top priority to rural telephony

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line