New Delhi: Attributing the "breakthrough in the WTO" to personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama, the US Trade Representative Monday said the "mantra of chalen sath sath" will guide the trade and investment relations between the two countries.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman expressed hope the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which is a "win-win" pact for developed and developing nations, will be approved by WTO's General Council meeting in the next few days.
"The breakthrough at the WTO could not have been possible without the direct and personal engagement of Prime Minister Modi and President Obama. They gave our partnership a mantra "chalen saath saath"...And that's what we are doing in WTO and that's what we are doing in our bilateral trade and investment relationship as well," he said.
He was addressing members of industry chamber Ficci.
The US and India have recently resolved differences over the food stockpiling issue at WTO, paving the way for implementation of pending trade pact to ease customs norms.
"This pace of engagement is impressive, but shouldn't be surprising for what President Obama declared the defining partnership of the 21st century. Our task is to build on our mutual interests, with mutual respect, and deliver on the promise of that partnership," the he said.
Froman will co-chair the Trade Policy Forum meet with Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tomorrow.
Talking about the food stockpiling issue, he said the US is focused on addressing legitimate food security needs.
"As part of the deal to allow TFA to be fully implemented, we agree to intensify efforts to find a permanent solution to the food stockpiling issue and eliminate ambiguity in the Bali package about the availability of the so-called Peace Clause in the meantime, provided that food stockpiling programs meet the conditions set in Bali.
"Together we agreed that both these elements - TFA and food stockpiling issues --should be approved simultaneously in the WTO General Council," he added.
It has been agreed between the two that the 'peace clause', crucial for uninterrupted implementation of India's food security programme, will continue indefinitely till a permanent solution is found by the WTO.
As per the Bali agreement, the peace clause, which gives legal security to member countries and protects them from being challenged under other WTO (World Trade Organization) agreements, was to continue till 2017.
For boosting manufacturing in India, Froman said, there is a need to improve business environment, address issues related to ease of doing business rating and integrate with globally competitive supply chains.
He said a number of studies have demonstrated that issues like "rigid" local content requirements in India may impact competitiveness of industries and push cost of producers and consumers and lower India's economic welfare.
"To achieve its true potential, India's manufacturing future lies in creating the conditions in which world class investments want to come to India and not in building competitive industries behind walls of protectionism," he added.
Froman also said the bilateral trade has increased to USD 100 billion, five-fold since 2001 and that has supported thousands of jobs.
"...But still there has been incredible amount of opportunities that is waiting to be unlocked," he said.
Stating that it is in India's interest to strong and world class IPR regime, the USTR said patents, trademarks, piracy, counterfeiting, compulsory licencing are "challenging issues and dealing with them directly is critical if India has to play a leadership role in the knowledge economy" and also to become a digital India.
"It is very much in US interest that India succeeds...The question is what can we do through our engagements in trade and investments to support these objectives," he said, adding that "incentivising life-saving innovations and promoting affordable access to quality healthcare and safe medicine will benefit all Indians and Americans. Indeed, India is home to many innovative ideas for delivering cost-effective healthcare".
On TFA, he said according to certain estimates it will reduce the cost of trade by 10 percent for developed countries and more than 14 percent for developing nations, potentially adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the global economy.
The strong relationship between the countries is highlighted by the fact that for the "first time a US President will be the Chief Guest at India?s Republic Day celebrations," he said.
He also said Prime Minister Modi is "genuinely" interested in tackling issues such as maintaining policy stability, forging an innovation environment, achieving tax simplification and predictability, raising investment caps, lowering tariffs, streamlining layers of approvals and eliminating bureaucratic obstacles.
"...He (Prime Minister Modi) has a personal track record of doing so in Gujarat. He has a talented and experienced team," Froman said.
