IT trade to strengthen Indo-US ties — Envoy

Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, during a trip to India last month, stopped-off at Bangalore, visiting the headquarters of Infosys Technologies (INFY), the blue-chip software company which made a blistering debut on the US Nasdaq exchange last year.

Clinton’s itinerary has not been announced, but there is speculation that he will also go to Bangalore, the country’s info-tech hot spot, and Hyderabad, the capital of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, whose Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is nicknamed "Cyberbabu" because of his efforts to foster the IT industry there.

Indian technology firms specialising in software services have been highly successful in the past few years, earning nearly 75 per cent of their revenue from US-based clients.

Leading US-based global giants such as Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp and Sun Microsystems, source technology from software centres in India.

Celeste said the United States and India needed to expand their diplomatic engagement. Relations between India and the US soured in 1998 following India’s underground nuclear tests in May that year. Tit-for-tat tests by Pakistan raised questions on stability in the region.

The US imposed economic sanctions on India demanding that New Delhi sign a test ban treaty immediately and halt further nuclear testing. The two have since held several rounds of talks to ease relations and negotiate an accord, which has so far been elusive.

India, which has scripted many asuccess story in it sector, is lagging behind countries such as taiwan in making infotech use a common place domestically, Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.

The IT industry should make it a reality at a shortest possible time, he said here today at the nasscom 2000 meet. “Do not just concentrate on serving the IT needs outside the country. Healthy development of infotech use in the country is an essential pre-requisite for achievement of our dream to become a global IT superpower,” Ahluwalia said.

The government was also changing gears to bring in a policy that is suitable for present and future trends and practises, and formation of a group of ministers (GoM) for evolving a comprehensive policy for convergent technologies was a step in the direction, he added.

He clarified that the ceiling of 3000 dollars of foreign exchange for each out-bound business tourist was set with the objective of ascertaining the real needs of the tourists, and a businessman who is in need of more forex could have such an amount after convincing the issuing banker about the same.

However, further liberalisation in many areas by thegovernment was a must to enable growth industry, he said adding, for this, it has to remain open and ready to interact with various sectors. He also stressed the need for tailoring the latest technologies to suit the requirements of a common man.