Krishna and Clinton gently spar over trade

Against a backdrop of frequent World Trade Organization litigation threats (see here, here and here), U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian foreign minister S.M. Krishna touched lightly on several trade sore spots during Clinton’s visit. Via the Wall Street Journal‘s IndiaRealTime blog: Clinton said India needs to open up to further U.S. investment. ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Against a backdrop of frequent World Trade Organization litigation threats (see here, here and here), U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian foreign minister S.M. Krishna touched lightly on several trade sore spots during Clinton's visit. Via the Wall Street Journal's IndiaRealTime blog:

Against a backdrop of frequent World Trade Organization litigation threats (see here, here and here), U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian foreign minister S.M. Krishna touched lightly on several trade sore spots during Clinton’s visit. Via the Wall Street Journal‘s IndiaRealTime blog:

Clinton said India needs to open up to further U.S. investment. “I truly believe there is much more potential to unleash,” she said. “We need to continue to reduce barriers and open our markets to more trade and investment.”

The U.S.-India civil nuclear energy pact of 2008 doesn’t appear to have made significant progress since Mrs. Clinton’s visit last July. Though U.S. firms are now in discussions with India’s nuclear plant operator, Mrs. Clinton has said U.S. firms’ concerns about India’s accident liability regulations are making it difficult to close deals.

Mr. Krishna said he assured Mrs. Clinton that India is committed “to provide a level playing field to all U.S. companies within the framework of national law and our international obligations.”

For his part, Mr. Krishna said he raised concerns about “mobility of professionals” to the U.S. India has been frustrated at a U.S. increase in visa fees and what it believes are stepped up visa rejections, both of which have made life difficult for India’s tech outsourcing companies that send workers to the U.S. to work on client sites. Indian officials have signaled recently they may file a formal complaint about the issue at the World Trade Organization.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.