India will regain momentum, restore investor confidence: Krishna assures US

In an attempt to diffuse worries emanating over the India’s flagging economic growth and weakening business sentiment, S M Krishna, India’s External Affairs Minister who is in United States of America to hold the third round of India-US Strategic Dialogue, vowed that the government is taking swift efforts to overcome the challenges to regain economic momentum and restore investor confidence. Quelling qualms surfacing over India’s growth story, the nation’s economic policy and commitment to implement reforms, the minister affirmed that India’s growth prospects not only stem from strong economic fundamentals, but also from the fact that virtually every political party in India stands for reform process.

The Indian minister, who also attended the annual gala of the US India Business Council (USIBC), also brought forward various pressing issues faced by Indian businesses in America. The challenges encompassed worsening environment for mobility of professionals, the protectionist sentiments against the global supply chain in services industry, the refusal to even consider a Social Security Agreement that affects the lives of 300,000 non-immigrant Indian professionals in the US, the unresolved market access issues, or, the persisting presence of India in the Super 301 Priority Watch List and the US department of labour's list.

However, the progress made by two of the largest democracies of the world’s gave Krishna the confidence that the challenges in relationship would be ironed out. While he highlighted that the bilateral trade between India and the US in goods and services touched a milestone by crossing $100 billion last year, he also said that India has been one of the fastest growing destinations for US exports. Underlining the enormous opportunities for expanding the India-US economic partnership, the external affairs minister said that US remains a major source of investment in India, which has planned investment of more than $1 trillion in infrastructure development over the next five years.