White House reveals how Obama will address outsourcing issue during India trip

WASHINGTON - The White House has revealed how President Barack Obama will address the sensitive issue of outsourcing when he undertakes his visit to India between November 6 and 9.

The basic message, it appears, will be that the outsourcing of U.S. jobs that has resulted in Indians doing customer support and software services for myriad U.S. corporations, is part of a broader economic tradeoff with India.

The US in return will gain access to a vast market with a fast-growing middle class and a huge amount of inbound Indian investment that is creating jobs at home, the president’s aides said.

While the outsourcing dynamic is one aspect of the U.S.-India commercial relationship, “India is also a tremendous market, potential market, for U.S. exports and a source of investment back in the U.S. And so it’s more than a uni-dimensional relationship,” said Mike Froman, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs.

Froman trotted out some figures to back up the point that the U.S. trade relationship with India isn’t a one-way street.

U.S. goods exports to India have quadrupled to 17 billion dollars over the last seven years and services exports have tripled to about 10 billion dollars.

“With 1.2 billion people and an economy…expected to grow at 8 percent a year for the next several years, we really see India as a potentially very important market for U.S. exports,” Froman told reporters, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Froman said Indian companies now support 57,000 jobs in the U.S. He also noted that Indian companies are the second-fastest-growing investors in the U.S., behind only the U.A.E.

“So it’s a fast growing economic relationship,” he said.

The White House hopes to be able to announce some big commercial deals in defense, aviation and other sectors during Obama’s visit to underscore its point. (ANI)