Clinton allays fears on outsourcing

Clinton's speech came as a breather for business houses both in India and US who were sceptical after Obama's speech on outsourcing

Hardnews Bureau

Laced with IT jargon, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called for an upgrade of Indo-US relationship to "version 3.0" while addressing the Synergies Summit in Washington to mark the 34th anniversary of the US-India Business Council.

Underlining the importance of the civil nuclear deal as a cornerstone in the India-US relationship, Clinton said, "The nuclear deal, which was completed through the efforts of former President Bush, removed the final barrier to broader cooperation between us. And, that brings us to today. We find ourselves at the beginning of a third era. I'll call it US-India 3.0."

She set the agenda for her New Delhi visit when she said, "The new governments in Washington and New Delhi will build this future together, and we will be discussing the details of that partnership when I visit India next month."

She pointed out that three successive United States administrations from different parties have identified the US-India relationship as a foreign policy priority. "For the United States, this is a project that transcends partnership and personalities, and I believe the same is true in India. When the US-India nuclear deal passed the United States Congress, it had strong bipartisan support, including backing from two former senators named Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as well as a senator from New York," she said.

A month prior to her visit to India, Clinton stressed that the world's oldest and largest democracies - Indian and US - must move to the next stage of relations. She said that both countries needed to catch up with growing people-to-people and economic linkages that have developed between Manhattan and Mumbai or Boston and Bangalore. "We see India as one of the few key partners worldwide who will help us shape the 21st century," said Clinton.

Contrary to Barack Obama's rhetoric of "no to Bangalore and yes to Buffalo", Clinton said, "The word about India has obviously spread. People know what kind of business and investment opportunities are there."

She added, "You see, a funny thing happened on the way to this third era of US-India relations. Our scientists and business people, our universities and movie studios and vibrant, Indian-American, personal-familial connections accepted the truth - that cooperation between our countries can be a driver of progress - long before our policymakers did."

Clinton also pointed out that the trade between the two nations has doubled, since 2004, and now exceeds $43 billion. There are over 90,000 Indian students studying in the US and that bilateral cooperation between the two governments must catch up with "people-to-people and economic ties". She also said that the partnership between the two capitals - New Delhi and Washington - should be "advanced and fruitful" as linkages are already established between Manhattan and Mumbai, or Boston and Bangalore.

Assuring businessmen in India and US, Clinton said, "President Barack Obama has been clear that that the United States has learned the lessons of the past. We will not use the global financial crisis as an excuse to fall back on protectionism." She also stressed that the two countries should begin negotiation on bilateral investment treaty soon. Final barriers to broader cooperation between the two countries have been eliminated post Indo-US nuclear deal, she averred.

Clinton's speech came as a breather for business houses both in India and US who were sceptical after Obama's speech on outsourcing, learnt Hardnews. There would be more clarity on the matter when Clinton visits India to promote Obama administration's moves to strengthen ties with New Delhi.