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India to discuss BPO ban with US: Jaitley
January 28, 2004 18:19 IST
Opposing the passage of a US Senate law to ban outsourcing of government contracts, India said on Wednesday that it would take up the matter with American authorities.
Outsourcing and India: Complete Coverage
"This has come as a surprise... What was being considered a bad policy is now being promoted. We will take up the matter with appropriate US authorities at the bappropriate occasion," Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley said.
Addressing a FIEO meeting after announcing mini-exim policy, Jaitley said the US legislation would send very wrong signals particularly with regard to multilateral trade talks.
"This sends wrong signals, especially as while market access is advocated for some sectors it is denied in some sectors," Jaitley said.
He said as a matter of principle the move was wrong. It was not a question of value as this ban would only impact about two per cent of outsourcing from the country.
Jaitley said he was all the more surprised by this action of the US Senate as it had come despite an assurance by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick that the US Federal government disapproved of the move to ban outsourcing by legislators in some states.