Protectionist policies not acceptable: FM to tell US

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, currently on a US visit, plans to express his disapproval of “protectionist policies” to top government officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“Protectionist policies are not acceptable,” Mukherjee said on Wednesday after landing in New York, where he stopped for a day to address the India Investment Forum.

The minister will take up the issue with officials in Washington after a spate of policy decisions in the US which India thinks will hit its IT sector.

Last month, Ohio had banned outsourcing of state IT contracts to foreign companies. This was preceded by Washington’s decision to raise fee for H-1B and L1 visas. The US policy decisions are expected to hurt the $50-billion Indian IT market.

His visit comes after a bilateral meeting between Foreign Minister S M Krishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month. India had voiced its concerns about the visa fee rise, export controls and ban on government outsourcing.

“We shall have to keep in mind that if the world economy is to come out of the present crisis, protectionism is not the answer,” Mukherjee said.

Noting that the US protectionist policies could affact India’s software companies, the minister said the financial crisis would ease if “uninterrupted flow of goods and services and capital are allowed to take place”.