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Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran made a stealthy visit here on Friday for a meeting with US Trade Representative Robert B Zoellick, then slipped away without meeting the media.
It was left to Zoellick to invite members of the Indian media to his office for a briefing about the meeting, in course of which he announced that he would be travelling to India on August 5 for meetings with government and private sector leaders.
Zoellick thus becomes the first cabinet-rank official of the Bush Administration to visit India.
Zoellick described his lunch meeting with Maran at the Jefferson Hotel as constructive, and said that it "should contribute to our growing economic relationship."
"Minister Maran and I discussed the changing nature of India's economy, including the important information technology and service industry network developing between our two countries," Zoellick said.
He further said that he and Maran had exchanged views "on multilateral trade liberalization through the WTO (World Trade Organization)," and added that he had told Maran about his "interest in learning more about developments in India, so I could better appreciate the Indian perspective and interests."
"I stated my belief that India's economic reforms and growth would make it an increasingly important economy in the global system," Zoellick added.
Asked if Maran had expressed India's concerns over the envisaged new round of WTO talks in Qatar, particularly when some of the erstwhile Uruguay Round of GATT's (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) accords are yet to be implemented, Zoellick said it would be inappropriate for him to comment. "It is only fair that he (Maran) speak about these things," the US trade representative said.
For his part, Zoellick defended the argument for a new round in the upcoming WTO meeting in Qatar and said it is incorrect to say that the Uruguay Round agreements had not been implemented.
He said there has been "a sigificant change," and the acknowledgement of the "vital need to integrate the developing economies into the decision-making process."
Zoellick also argued that the trade liberalization which has taken place after the Uruguay Round had been beneficial both to developed and developing countries.
Zoellick in his briefing said he and Maran had also discussed the "broader strategic implications of closer U.S.-Indian economic cooperation.
"India and the United States are both major democracies.The shared values of individual liberty and respect for the rule of law are the foundation of our economic relationship," Zoellick declared.
US exports of goods and services to India totaled almost $6 billion last year.
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