The US today said if India wants to be a strong strategic partner, it must have the economic strength to back up its growing global leadership and its economy cannot achieve full potential without strengthening intellectual property rights and creating a more transparent tax regime.
"For India to be a strong and capable strategic partner, it must have the economic strength to back up its growing global leadership," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal, told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a hearing.
The fast-growing economic partnership between India and the US is based on the understanding that deepening the trade and commercial ties between the two countries will advance opportunity and prosperity for Indians and Americans, she said.
Biswal said despite significant developments, there is still much to be done to get two-way trade much closer to its potential.
"While India's business climate has improved - India climbed four places on the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' survey last year - our companies still struggle with an over-burdened and inefficient legal system for adjudicating commercial disputes and with a variable - and at times inconsistent - regulatory environment and tax code," she said.
Among steps India can take to attract more companies would be to negotiate a high-standard bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the US, which would send an important signal to US investors that India is not only open for business, but also open to liberalizing its trade and investment practices, Biswal said.
"While India has made some progress in improving the ease of doing business, its economy cannot achieve its full potential without strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights and creating a more transparent and predictable regulatory and tax regime," she said.
"While these issues are some of the most challenging in our relationship, they are also some of the most important for both countries to get right," the top American diplomat said.
Biswal told lawmakers that the progress that India and US have made over the past eight years in strategic, economic, defence and security, and energy and environment ties has truly ushered in a new era of relations between the US and India, strengthening the foundation of a partnership that will help ensure that the Indo-Pacific region and the world is a more peaceful and prosperous place.
(Reopens FGN2)
The bill, among other things, creates a USD 1.2 billion Counter-ISIL Fund providing flexible resources to support training and equipping the properly-vetted Syrian opposition, Iraqi Security Forces, the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, Sunni tribal elements, and other local security forces with a national security mission such as local security forces that are committed to protecting highly vulnerable ethnic and religious communities.
McCain said the bold reforms achieved in this year's legislation on defence acquisition, military healthcare, military justice, and security cooperation are a worthy contribution to this historic legacy of bipartisan support for troops.
"(It) refocuses security assistance to Pakistan on activities that directly support US national security interests and conditions a significant portion of funding on a certification from the Secretary of Defence that Pakistan is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network in Pakistani territory," the summary said.
Obama also slammed the Congress for not taking action toward closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"As I have said before, spending hundreds of millions of dollars, year after year, to keep fewer than 60 men in an isolated detention facility in Cuba is not consistent with our interests as a Nation and undermines our standing in the world.
"It weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists," he said.
