Economy to take US-Indo relationship to heights

Mumbai, Nov 29: Union Minister of State for Industry, Ashwani Kumar today said the economic interests between the United States and India will take the relationship between the two countries to new heights and observed that the need of the hour was labour flexibility which would in turn promote larger volume of employment.

Inaugurating a two-day US-Indo Business Summit here, the minister pointed out that India was fast emerging as an economic powerhouse, after the end of the cold war, which was clear from the current year's GDP growth which has touched 8.9 per cent in the recent past. However, he cautioned against resting on past laurels.

The summit is being jointly organised by the Government of India, US Department of Commerce, FICCI and CII.

Welcoming the 238-member US business delegation, the Minister expressed hope that the many members of the delegation will forge business partnerships with their Indian counterparts in large numbers.

Reiterating that ''Our democracy is our strength'' the Mr Kumar stressed that democracy and economic development are integral to each other.

He emphasised that the need of the hour was labour flexibility which would in turn promote larger employment. India has a coalition government at the Centre and hence taking all allies into confidence was a must before taking any such step, he noted.

''Good economy can be good politics,'' he added.

The inaugural session of the summit was also addressed by US Ambassador to India, Frank L Levin, Union Commerce Secretary, Gopal K Pillai and others.

UNI