The US has called for a mechanism for mutual sharing of best practices with India in execution of policies such as the insolvency code, government procurement, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and banking.

At the Indo-US strategic and commercial dialogue (SCD) scheduled next week, the US also wants an understanding on holding stakeholder consultations when policy decisions are taken in these areas.

“India has to carefully respond to these requests as it could also become a tool of interfering in our country's policy making,” a government official told BusinessLine .

The US has interest in benefits that are offered in India to local players in the form of price preferences and local sourcing in government procurement which it feels goes against foreigners, the official added. “Many countries, including the US, try to favour their own industry in government sourcing in various ways including putting entry restrictions for foreign players. We have no interest in taking advice from them,” the official said.

Cautious stand Washington is also interested in how India implements its new insolvency code that will ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, enable faster turnaround of businesses and create a database of serial defaulters.

“There is a difference between being interested in knowing more about policies followed by other countries and interfering in policy making. We have to ensure that the line is not crossed,” the official said.

For instance, in the area of IPR, the US has been trying to influence India’s policy. There has been huge pressure from both the US industry and government on amending Section 3(d) of the Indian Patents Act which disallows patents on innovations that are not significantly different from their earlier versions.

“Sharing of best practices with the US on IPR would undoubtedly lead to more pressure on India to change its laws,” the official said. The US also wants that the two countries should have stakeholder consultations before any important policy decision that could affect the other country. “India, more or less, follows this on its own. We do put up draft texts of many policies, such as the IPR policy, from stakeholders both domestic and international,” the official said.

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and US Secretary of State John Kerry are scheduled to be in New Delhi to attend the US-India SCD and the US-India CEO Forum. The SCD, scheduled on August 30-31, will have External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman representing India.

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