Outsourcing debate is not India debate: Mittal

New Delhi, June 9: America should not worry about outsourcing to India as it is good for the US Government, Bharti Group Chairman and CII President Sunil Mittal said today.

On the back of an outsourcing issue raised by two US Senators last month, Mr Mittal said his company had gone ahead with ''reverse outsourcing'' by giving US computer giant IBM a contract worth 1.1 billion dollars, scaled up from 700 million dollars earlier.

''CII was able to build a strong case in its meeting with American business leaders on issues like H1-B visa, Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal and the Doha round. We told them that the outsourcing debate should not become an India debate,'' the CII Chief, back from a four-day mission to the US, told newspersons here.

The US Government knows that big companies like Cisco, Dell and IBM are setting up centres in India and employing large number of people in the country, and that India should not be specifically targeted when it comes to H1-B visas, he said.

The CII President said the delegation impressed on the US side that the thrust should continue on the Doha Round.

''Failure of Doha round is not good for the entire world including India. It will have its effect, if not through in the next two-three months, on the whole globalisation that has taken place. There is a consistent message from the US for Indian leadership to conclude the agreement.'' Outsourcing has emerged as an occasional issue of debate in the US, with some politicians raising fears of jobs going to Indian firms, Mr Mittal remarked.

There would be a requirement of 17 million IT/ knowledge professionals by the US, according to CII estimates, which can be best served by India, he said.

''In fact the Indian professionals are adding competitiveness to the US industry. This is a partnership for competitiveness,'' he added.

He said the CII at the mission also highlighted the fact that most of the manufacturing industry had moved to China and was feeding US consumption patterns today. Last month, two US Senators -- Chuck Grassley and Richard Durbin -- had queried nine Indian IT companies on allegations of misuse of the H-1B visa programme, a non-immigrant visa that allows US employers to seek temporary help from skilled foreigners.

Indian IT lobby National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) had written to the two Senators saying H-1B visas were beneficial to both US and Indian companies, as well as the US economy.

On the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement, the CII President said there was mutual agreement ''on priority for conclusion of the Civil Nuclear Agreement''.

The agreement would help India's energy requirements and facilitate large flows of investments from both countries, he said.

A business delegation, led by telecom tycoon Mr Mittal, met prominent American political leaders, such as Senator Hillary Clinton, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nick Burns, Under Secretary Frank Lavin and Secretary of Agriculture Michael Johanns during the visit between June 3 and June 6.

The Indian business leaders also met leading US corporate leaders including Wal-Mart Stores Inc Vice-Chairman Michael Duke.

UNI