India not ambitious enough to conclude BIT: Adeyemo

The Dollar Business Bureau

Holding India responsible for not being ambitious enough to complete the Bilateral Investment Treaty, the US stated that it is open to continue dialogue as it is of great significance for both the nations.

The USA has number of issues regarding trade with India, said Adewale (Wally) Adeyemo, Deputy Assistant to the US President and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics.

While addressing a session on India-US Economic Relations, Adeyemo further stated that India is not as determined as required to conclude BIT.

The US is waiting to be involved in growth of India, which is amongst the fastest growing economy in G20.

In July, Richard R Verma, US Ambassador to India said that both the countries are aiming at a four-fold jump to $500 billion in bilateral trade in near future.

The bilateral investments from US to India has grown from $8.5 billion recorded in 2005 to more than $35 billion logged in 2015.

India and USA have been negotiating over BIT since 2008.

Adeyemo stated that in area of ease of doing business, India needs to go further and take more initiatives and ensure investment norms are simpler.

While talking about intellectual property rights, he further stated that the IPR issue is one where both the countries can jointly come up with solutions. Finding areas to work together will help in finding solutions to more critical issues like IPR, he added.

Adeyemo, in reference to cheap steel exports from China, stated that China subsidized steel and is producing it in huge quantity.

Adeyemo further stated that the economic value of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is huge and the US is re-balancing its trade relations towards Asia.