India, US to resolve issues related to visa, totalisation pact

New Delhi: India and the US on Thursday committed to continue engagement to resolve issues related to visa, movement of professionals and totalisation agreement.

These issues were deliberated upon during the meeting of Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Trade Representative Michael Froman. They met under the 10th India- US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting.

"The US and India also decided to continue their engagement on visa issues, and their shared resolve to facilitate the movement of professionals, experts, and scientific personnel in to the respective countries," the joint statement said.

The two countries acknowledged the ongoing discussions on totalisation and resolved to continue their engagement on the elements required in both countries in order to pursue a bilateral totalisation agreement," it said.

India is insisting to start negotiations for the early conclusion of totalisation agreement or social security pact as its absence restricts movement of Indian IT professionals.

On intellectual property (IP), both the countries emphasised the role of robust and balanced IPR protection in fostering creativity, promoting innovation, and attracting investment, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders, including the public.

The leaders reiterated the "goal of ensuring the poorest populations in India and the US have access to quality healthcare, and recognised the important role that trade, IP and innovation policies play in enhancing access to quality health and affordable medicines," it said.

Mr Froman urged for a transparent notice and comment process to implement and evaluate India's national IPR policy.

Both countries voiced concern about the unauthorised recording, including camcording, of films in cinemas and copyright piracy on websites, it said.

On protecting trade secrets, the leaders expressed commitment for its strong protection in their respective countries and to continue engagement on effective trade secret protection mechanisms.

"A toolkit would be prepared for industry, especially SMEs, to highlight applicable laws and policies that may enable them to protect their trade secrets in India. A training module for judicial academies on trade secrets may also be considered," it added.

"A further study on various legal approaches to protection of trade secrets will also be undertaken by India, it said.

It also said that the ministers agreed to explore mechanisms through technical discussions to address market access issues and trade costs for pharmaceutical products and medical devices in a manner that benefits patients and provides healthcare services and products.

On the Insurance Regulation and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) exposure draft on public listing in the insurance sector, India invited the US to offer comments on the draft guidelines relating to public listing.