US pushes for more reforms

Robert Mulford, US Ambassador in India, said he hoped to see the Union Budget lift "all caps" on foreign direct investment, and while welcoming the government proposal for lifting of caps on telecom, insurance and civil aviation, said he hoped India would continue to liberalise.

"It would be to our advantage to invest in India. More importantly, it is good for India to open up if it wants to have 8-9 per cent growth rate. If India wants to sustain its level of growth, it should be interested in a more open investment and trade regime," he said.

Mulford said the US would be enthused if India continued to open up in all sectors""retail, for example. He said the opposition to the liberalisation was "not surprising". "But the government has announced that it is going to do it," he said.

He also spoke about US concern on whether India would become a party in putting together a framework agreement that could be launched by the end of this month.

He said while trade rounds in the services and manufacturing sectors were well advanced, the agricultural sector was the cause of "deep concern".

In an indirect dig at India, Mulford said although he had noted the concern of Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamad about the excesses by US personnel on prisoners in Iraq, "the US too was concerned about it", and was taking remedial action. "One of the great things about us is that these things (remedial action) actually happens," he said.

Mulford said there was no indication of the government policy on what it wanted to do in Iraq.

He said US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who would be in the Capital on July 13, would brief the government on Iraq, among other things.