Aren't investment protection rules designed to protect investments by Western companies in developing countries? That may have been the original idea, but now the situation seems more complicated:
With Indian firms investing aggressively in the US, India has put on fast track negotiations on signing an investment protection agreement with the [United] States.
While both the US and India have signed the investment protection agreements with a number of countries, the one between them has to be unique because it is a different type of relationship, commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath said.
The two countries would try and conclude the investment protection agreement by the end of this year, he said, adding that Indian investments were not made in the American stock market but in the backyard of the US Economy.
Here's more:
In a measure of the growing US-India trade engagement, Nath spoke about the investment protection agreement between the two countries. "The investment protection agreement between US and India, it turns out, is going to be more for India than US," Nath said in a lighter vein. "It is a different kind of agreement compared to the other countries because investments on both sides are so substantial. We hope to conclude it by end of the year."
He said even 10 years ago not many could have imagined that Indian companies would be investing in the US. At best, he said, one could think in terms of investments in Dubai, Singapore, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
Indian companies with a strong US presence being showcased during the two days include Bharat Forge, Essar Group, HCL America, ITC Kitchens of India, Jet Airways, Mahindra USA, Ranbaxy, Tata Group, Thermax and Wockhardt USA.
Together these companies are in industries as diverse as steel, airlines, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, healthcare, hotels, chemicals and information technology. According to one study Indian companies have created 30,000 new jobs in the US.
