US commerce secy to visit Isro, DAE; hopes to create jobs back home

WASHINGTON: The United States drive to create jobs at home under economic pressure has trumped its sanctions regime. In a clear sign that the technology denial strategy towards India has come to an end, US commerce secretary Gary Locke will visit Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) and the Department of Atomic Energy and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India during his visit to India next week in an effort to drive up American exports.

Locke will also hold a town hall style event with students focused on innovation and the knowledge economy at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and visit the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facilities in Bangalore to see firsthand how US partnerships with HAL are contributing to India’s aviation industry and generating high value jobs in both countries, the US commerce department and the White House announced in a statement detailing his schedule in India.

All these entities had suffered in some way under a US technology denial regime that stretched back decades, but was particularly severe in the immediate months after Indias nuclear tests in 1998.

Locke’s five-day visit begins February 6 with a raft of bilateral meetings in New Delhi, including talks with his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi, and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia. He will then go to Bangalore where he will also attend the Aero India show — a major international military aviation trade show — where the US pavilion will have its largest presence to date and will be the largest foreign presence at the show. Locke will be joined by US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer, Vice Admiral Bill Landay III, director of the defense security cooperation agency, and Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of political-military affairs at the US state department. The commerce secretary, the first US cabinet official to visit India after President Obama’s trip last November, will be accompanied by 24 US businesses, based in 13 states across America. The Obama administration has made no secret of the fact that the primary mission is to generate employment in the United States by ramping up exports.

Exports represent a critical part of the economy and are a key component of the Obama administration’s efforts to spur new job creation. One year ago, President Obama outlined his National Export Initiative (NEI), which seeks to double exports by 2015, in support of several million new US jobs, a statement released ahead of the visit noted . The NEI enhances the US governments trade promotion efforts, increases credit to businesses especially small and medium-sized businesses.