U.S. official lauds India-U.S. partnership

U.S. official lauds India-U.S. partnership    A collaborative government group set up to foster trade relations between India and the United States is working, said David McCormick, U.S. Undersecretary for Commerce and Industry, at an Indian economic summit in New Delhi Monday.
   McCormick said increasingly productive ties between the two nations since 2001 have led to tangible results, like growth in U.S. exports to India, which have gone from $4.1 billion in 2002 to an estimated $7.5 billion this year. He also said the rise in the number of democratic nations globally has contributed to an economic environment that allows technological innovation between the countries to thrive.
   As an example, McCormick said the United States and India are working side-by-side to use satellite navigation technology to increase civil aviation safety.
   “This type of collaboration could never have occurred in the past, but we have now opened the door for this project and other future projects that allow American and Indian companies to work together on a wide range of projects,” he said.
   Speaking as co-chair of the two nations’ High Technology Cooperation Group, McCormick said the HTCG “has had a positive and tangible effect on licensing statistics. Since 2002, India has had far greater access to U.S. technology as the U.S. has loosened controls on certain items. We have lowered the average processing time for licenses for India such that they are now similar to many other U.S. partners and allies, such as the United Kingdom, Israel, and France. Only about 1 percent of total U.S. trade with India requires an export license, and over 90 percent of all licenses are approved. Finally, while total U.S. exports to India have increased, licensed dual-use exports have declined, as fewer technologies now require a license.”
   In the arena of U.S. policy changes, McCormick continued, the HTCG “has fostered the exchange of information that has reduced confusion over export policies and procedures on both sides, benefiting our two governments, as well as the private sector. With the removal of some Indian end users from the U.S. Entity List, more U.S. high-technology items may be exported to India without a license for civil-space and civil-nuclear end uses.”