Ohio ban on offshore outsourcing not at all welcome: Sharma

New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) India Tuesday said that several
actions taken by the US with regard to offshore outsourcing
and other trade issues are "not welcome at all".
"Indian IT industry has made a notable contribution which
is acknowledged globally, even in the US. It is Indian
entities which are responsible for creating jobs, even now
when there are big job losses," Indian Commerce and Industry
Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here.
Hoping that the scheduled India-US Trade Policy Forum
(TPF) meeting on September 21 would be "constructive", Sharma
said the many actions taken by the US that adversely impact
the economic engagement "are not welcome".
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has banned offshore
outsourcing by government departments. Earlier, the US
increased professional visa fees significantly to fund a USD
600 million programme to secure its border with Mexico.
Sharma and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk will co-chair
the TPF, which is the principal trade dialogue between the US
and India.
He said that data suggests that Indian IT companies have
created over 2.5 lakh jobs in the US in the last three years.
"We hope that there will be a constructive and
appropriate approach, because both the countries are strategic
partners," he added.
He said the protectionist measures being resorted to by
several developed countries after the 2008 economic meltdown
would be counterproductive.
Sharma said lessons should be learnt from a similar
mistake in the form of the Smoot Hawley Act of 1930.
It is widely believed that because of that protectionist
move by the US, the global recession during the 1930s changed
into a depression. PTI RR
MYR