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NEW DELHI, India – The United States is eager to increase trade with India, a US official said Monday, November 24, after the two countries settled a bitter row over food subsidies and President Barack Obama announced he would visit in January 2015.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman was speaking in New Delhi before the first round of trade talks for 4 years between the world’s largest economy and the emerging giant.
“The future of our partnership remains ours to define. We believe in the promise of India,” Froman told an Indian business audience. “Let’s deliver on that promise.”
Trade between the two countries stands at around $100 billion.
They reached a breakthrough agreement early November in a long dispute over food subsidies that for months had been blocking a landmark global agreement to reduce trade barriers.
“Some suggest that the Indian and US breakthrough (unlocking the global trade deal) may have saved the multinational trading system,” Froman added.
“The breakthrough could not have been possible without the personal engagement of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and President (Barack) Obama,” he said.
The deal marked a crucial step towards the full implementation of a World Trade Organization agreement reached in December 2013 in Bali, which would streamline global customs procedures.
That agreement paved the way for Obama’s acceptance of Modi’s invitation to be chief guest at the country’s Republic Day parade in January 2015.
Conclusion of the WTO pact could add “hundreds of billions of dollars” to international commerce, Froman said.
Froman will on Tuesday, November 25, meet Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitaraman for the first meeting in 4 years of a US-India trade policy forum.
Resumption of the panel’s deliberations marked an “important development” and “historic turn in India-US relations,” Froman added.
The Trade Policy Forum is the main body for discussion of trade and investment issues between the two countries.
India and the United States are seeking more cooperation in such areas as high technology, education and security, Froman said.
But Froman added that making headway in areas including intellectual property rights involving pharmaceutical giants and entertainment copyright law was crucial to strengthening commercial ties.
US-based multinational pharmaceutical companies often complain about India’s tough patent laws, which refuse to allow the tweaking of inventions to win new patent protection and instead demand “genuine innovation.” – Rappler.com
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