Miles to go for an FTA with India, says US official

Mumbai: The US is open to a free trade agreement (FTA) with India but after further bilateral economic engagements, Douglas Hartwick, assistant US trade representative for South and South West Asia, said. "Some people suggest India-US FTA and I say ''why not?''. But we have to do a lot of work before that," the US official told a meet on Indo-US economic cooperation. While Indo-US economic relations have seen a remarkable growth in the last five years, they were not yet up to the level of China-US engagement, he pointed out Hartwick said the deals on high technology and nuclear power between the two countries last year would boost growth of economic ties and 2007 would be the year of implementing these agreements. India, meanwhile, demanded that the US should liberalise visa regime, recognise degrees awarded by Indian institutions and relax labour certification requirements for more trade in services. While the US demand for liberalising FDI limits and norms were looked into and constantly reviewed, Ajay Dua, secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion, said there should be an increase in items of trade between the two countries. He said although there are restrictions in certain areas, there was enough opportunity for foreigners to invest in India. The US official also emphasized on the successful conclusion of Doha Round of trade talks as top priority for the United States.