This Article is From Sep 11, 2010

India-US talks: Outsourcing on agenda

India-US talks: Outsourcing on agenda
New Delhi: India's outsourcing concerns go unheeded as US President Obama doesn't seem to be in a mood to budge on his outsourcing stand. After widespread condemnation from different quarters in India, speaking at a White House press conference, Obama again took a jibe at companies that outsource jobs.

"Millions of Americans are still struggling for work, millions of families struggling to pay bills & mortgages, and so these proposals are both meant to accelerate growth in the short term and strengthen economy in long term," said Barack Obama.

However, India too is not in a mood to sit back and take all.

The Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma reacted to it by saying , India will thrash it out in the trade talks that are to take place in Washington in October.

But will the ban impact the Indo-US ties? On Friday, US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer clarified that Ohio banning outsourcing of IT related work would not have any bearing on Indo-US business ties and asserted that the partnership between the countries was "indispensable".

Roemer also added that, similar actions from certain other US states in 2005 had left Indo-US relations unaffected.

In August, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland of Democratic Party banned outsourcing arguing that this undermines economic development and has unacceptable business consequences for his state.

The move also follows a controversial legislation that increased H-1B and L1 visa fees, hitting India's over IT industries.
 
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