US lawmakers express concern over Indian economic policies

US said it was concerned about the innovation and the investment environment in India at the moment

US lawmakers and some top business organisations of the country have alleged that the "restrictive" and "protectionist" policies of India is hampering bilateral trade, an issue said to be of deep concern for the Obama administration.

"We're very concerned about the innovation and the investment environment in India at the moment," Mike Froman, National Deputy Security Advisor on economic policies to US President Barack Obama, said yesterday.

"I'm very concerned with the deterioration in the environment for protection of US intellectual property rights and innovation in India. The government of India continues to take actions that make it very difficult for US innovative pharmaceutical companies to secure and enforce their patents in India," Froman said.

Froman listed out compulsory licensing, patent issues, preferential market access, localisation as some of the issues of concerns, as a number of influential Senators alleged that the recent Indian policies have been detrimental to the India-US relationship.

"We have a lot of concerns about what's going on today in India especially their emerging market access barriers, protectionist measures," said Senator Rob Portman.

"One is the lack of respect for patents. Basic intellectual property protections are being set aside. They've invalidated and broken American drug patents, as I say. I think these actions are in disregard of WTO rules; I think they're fundamentally disruptive to innovation. I think, frankly, it's a major concern, because it could spread," said the Ohio Senator.

Senator Robert Menendez too piled on to the complaint against India.

"I have been hearing from the pharmaceutical industry, I've been hearing from the high-tech industry, I've been hearing from other industries about how India's inadequate protection, to put it mildly, and enforcement of intellectual property rights is a real challenge," he said.

Noting that India is one of the largest recipients of benefits under the generalised system of preferences (GSP), Senator Orrin Hatch alleged that India is increasingly shutting down US companies out of its markets through a variety of measures, including restricting its imports of products to force companies to manufacture in India.