No BPO ban in UK: Straw

The United Kingdom said it would not go the US way in banning outsourcing from India despite domestic pressure. Visiting UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw discussed the matter with Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley during a bilateral meeting.

On the multilateral trade front, Jaitley said the Cancun draft for trade liberalisation was lop-sided and India was willing to go ahead with negotiations only if its defensive interests in agriculture were accommodated.

The minister said while India was engaging in negotiations and was proactive on services and manufacturing, agriculture remained its main area of concern.

"In agriculture our flexibilities are limited," he said, adding that India's concerns were two-fold -- market access and subsidies. "It is on market access that we have our greatest sensitivities because too many people are involved in the sector.... One tariff line could affect a few million Indians," Jaitley said.

"For India it is not only subsidies....We can't open our doors in agriculture even though we are opening in services and manufacturing," he added.

On the bilateral front, Straw wanted India to cut down the Customs duty on alcoholic beverages and also demanded the liberalisation of legal services which would enable UK-based firms to practice in the country.