US needs to understand unilateral actions don't work any more: Hardeep Singh Puri

Interview with Former envoy to UN

Hardeep Singh Puri, a former permanent representative of India to the United Nations and now a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, says the US Special 301 Report has no legal standing for us. In a free-wheeling interview with Nayanima Basu, he says India should hold ground under US pressure. Edited excerpts:

The US has said it would subject India to out-of-cycle reviews (OCRs) for the first time in Special 301. What triggered it this time?

This is total nonsense. Special 301 is an instrument for unilateral action. It is extra-constitutional. There is a multilateral forum. They are free to take us to the WTO’s dispute settlement body. Why is the US not doing that? By keeping us in the ‘Priority Watch List’, they have just kept the carrot dangling, so that the threat remains. And, OCRs are nothing but keeping the pressure on, so that tomorrow whoever comes to power, the US will continue to play their games with it.

All this while the perception was that this year the US might put us in the (stiffer) ‘Priority Foreign Country’ category. Why did they ultimately relent ?

It is not relenting. They simply did not want to start off this issue with the next government on a sticky wicket. They need to understand that such unilateral actions do not work any more. We are facing this rubbish because people responsible for this in the government choose to behave this way in a knee-down approach.

The US has made it clear it will continue to monitor and even carry out probes in our IPR regime and patent laws.

They are only concerned about maximising their commercial gains and we keep encouraging them. The US International Trade Commission is already carrying out a probe. We have to tell the US that you cannot call yourself our strategic partner and continue to get your way to suit your commercial interest. There are international norms that need to be followed.

We have been in their ‘Priority Watch List’ since 1989.

First, what are these ‘Priority Watch List’, ‘Priority Foreign Country’ labels? These things got accelerated because of the fudgy style of functioning of our government for the past 10 years. We need to tell them that this is non-negotiable. Just take us to the WTO panel if you feel we are violating any law.

Some leading US firms like Boeing, Abbott and Honeywell have said Indian patent and IPR laws are sound.

Of course, and why shouldn’t they? They are making huge money here, after all. We need to realise trade comprises 40% of our GDP and we have to use it to our mutual advantage. We are a great place to do business. I wish we were slightly stronger.