In her two-day stay in New Delhi, UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt met senior government functionaries including Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. In an interview with P Vaidyanathan Iyer and Mamata Singh, Hewitt said one of the highlights of her visit was a decision to push India and other developing countries case in the WTO on the vital public health issue under the Trips agreement and persuade the USA to come around to lower tariffs and import quotas.
You are leading a high level delegation of businessmen. What are the major areas of interest for British businessmen in India?
British companies are interested in a number of areas including Information and Communication technology, automotive industry, healthcare, environmental technology, food production, power, gas and oil.
I met the Petroleum minister, Ram Naik and impressed upon him the need to finalise the negotiations between British Gas and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation on the Gujarat gas fields.
An early resolution to the issue will not only ensure that gas supply commences, but will also send a positive signal to other potential investors.
In the power sector, we have set up a joint working group. I am quite impressed with the market reforms proposed to be carried out in this sector.
If they are speeded up, a number of British companies could become interested in investing in this sector in India again.
You have also raised the issue of increasing the capacity of UK-India air services. What was the response on the Indian side?
I discussed the issue with Civil Aviation minister, Shahnawaz Hussain and there is political will on both sides to increase the seating capacity.
Discussions with Air-India and airport authorities, which had stalled in June last year, will be renewed shortly. There is no point in letting third country airlines benefit from the huge traffic between the two countries.
WTO issues featured majorly in your discussions with Commerce Minister Arun Shouris. How far is UKs position in consonance with that of developing countries like India?
I had a very productive meeting with Arun Shourie in which we decided that the two countries should strengthen cooperation on WTO issues. Officials in both countries will work together.
Also, expert advisers on various areas including agriculture will meet on a regular basis to understand the other country
