Negotiations on the proposed India-US bilateral investment protection agreement have started making progress after being on the backburner for some time.
Following the India-US Commercial Dialogue, co-chaired by the US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Mr Francisco J. Sanchez, the Commerce Secretary, Dr Rahul Khullar, told reporters on Tuesday that, “Until now there was some degree of hesitation on the part of the US.” “What Francisco told me today gives first sure sign that these guys are back at the table. They want it to get moving. The interest is back,” he added.
Earlier, the talks were hit by the differences between both sides on the level of protection on investments that Washington wanted. The Industry Ministry data shows that between April 2000 to August 2011, India received Foreign Direct Investment worth $9.91 billion from the US. The other bilateral issues included India's concern over the US visa fee hike and the US' demand for further liberalisation of sectors such as multi-brand retail. The US also was concerned over India's national solar mission's insistence on domestic sourcing of components. The bilateral trade was $45.6 billion in 2010-11, of which India's exports to the US were $25.5 billion and the US' exports to India were $20.1 billion.