Outsourcing ban won't hurt ties: US envoy

New Delhi: The US today sought to downplay the ban on outsourcing clamped by the government of its Ohio state, saying similar actions in the past have not affected Indo-US ties which have grown to a far greater level.

US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer said Ohio banning outsourcing of IT related work would not have any bearing on Indo-US business ties and asserted that the partnership between the countries was "indispensable".

"I would refer you to statements by Infosys and other Indian companies which recently had said about Ohio action...that they had very little, if any, impact on US-Indian business," he told reporters here when asked to comment on the ban.

The ambassador said Indo-US relations have reached to a new stage which now includes counter terrorism, green partnership, apart from trade and commerce.

"We are talking today about the indispensable partnership between the United States and India. We are talking about global cooperation between the United States and India on terrorism, counter terrorism, on economics and commerce, on job creation in both places, on green partnership and next green revolution.

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"We are making considerable progress. India has moved from 21st largest trading partner to the 14th largest trading partner (of US) over the last five or six years. That is the real progress in this relationship," the envoy said.

Roemer said some similar actions from certain other states in the US -- passing resolutions banning outsourcing in 2005 -- also did not affect Indo-US relations. Last month, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland of Democratic

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Party banned outsourcing arguing that this undermines economic development and has unacceptable business consequences for his state.

The move follows a controversial legislation that increased H-1B and L1 visa fees, hitting India's over USD 50 billion IT industry.

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