Schwab going to India to strengthen bilateral trade ties

Schwab going to India to strengthen bilateral trade ties U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab will lead a high-level delegation to New Delhi beginning Thursday for strategic trade talks and bilateral discussions with senior Indian officials, her office said Monday.
   Schwab will co-chair the fourth Ministerial-level meeting of the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum with India's Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.
   The United States and India maintain one of the world's fastest growing major bilateral trade relationships and are committed to a goal of doubling bilateral trade to about $60 billion by 2008, Schwab's office said.
   At the Trade Policy Forum, Schwab will discuss initiatives to strengthen bilateral trade ties and achieve progress in the areas of agricultural trade, investment, trade in services, reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and boosting innovation and creativity. The policy forum was launched during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington, in July 2005. The previous Ministerial-level forum was held in June 2006 in Washington.
   While in India, Schwab will also have discussions in New Delhi with senior Indian officials on the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda. Her delegation will include Deputy U.S. Trade Representatives Ambassador Karan Bhatia and Ambassador Peter Allgeier, Chief Agricultural Negotiator Ambassador Richard Crowder, and Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Southwest Asia Ambassador Douglas A. Hartwick.