Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley gave no hint on Thursday of any breakthrough in stalled World Trade Organization talks after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. In a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Jaitley said he and Zoellick have a "much greater understanding" of each country's position after meeting at least three times in the past four months. But he said there were many areas where their views "are not fully convergent." Top trade officials from the 146 WTO member countries will meet this September in Cancun, Mexico. The United States hopes the meeting will propel the negotiations to a successful end by the current goal of January 2005. However, talks have been stalled on a number of issues, including agriculture and how to guarantee that poor countries have access to cheap versions of patented life-saving drugs.

India has challenged the locus standi of a grouping of shrimp-producing southern states in the U.S. that has brought an anti-dumping complaint against shrimp imports from India. Visiting Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley, who had a three-hour-long discussion with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick, said it was India's view that the standing rules of the U.S. Commerce Department in this regard should be "fairly applied". "We believe, the Southern Shrimp Alliance, does not have the adequate standing in terms of numbers and, therefore, we think this has to be determined by the Department of Commerce." The minister also said he had taken up the matter with Commerce Secretary Bob Evans. India is now the largest exporter of shrimps and 88 percent of the shrimps consumed in the U.S. is imported. Dumping is the import of goods at a price below the home-market or a third-country price or below the cost of production. A dumping margin represents by how much the fair value price exceeds the dumped price.

The U.S. government disapproves of legislation adopted by states like New Jersey banning outsourcing of technology jobs to India. When Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue during his talks with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick here Thursday, he was told that the U.S. federal government considers these measures "bad policy" and not only "opposes it but is trying to resist it". Addressing a press conference here at the end of his two-day visit to Washington, Jaitley said: "We explained the sensitivities of India's concerns that public and political opinion in India regards it completely contrary to the spirit of market access. Therefore such a proposal does create an adverse environment when market access negotiations in various sectors are on. "The USTR was very appreciative of our stance and he told me that the federal government of the U.S. considers these proposals as 'bad policy'. The federal government opposes it and is trying to resist it."

The United States, which has listed Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels as a terrorist group, said on Friday they should resume peace talks with the island's government as soon as possible. The rebels pulled out of talks in April saying not enough was being done to help the minority Tamil community, and boycotted an aid meeting in Tokyo this week that raised $4.5 billion to rebuild Sri Lanka after 20 years of ethnic war. "We urge them to return to talks with the government of Sri Lanka immediately," the United States said in a statement released by its embassy in Colombo. The rebels and the government agreed to a ceasefire in February last year and they held six rounds of direct talks before the rebels withdrew.

The U.S. has assured India that its plea for a "totalisation agreement" would be considered to ensure social security benefits for Indian professionals who have worked in America. Addressing a press conference here, visiting Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick gave him the assurance when he raised the issue with U.S. officials. Besides Zoellick, Jaitley met Commerce Secretary Bob Evans. The agreement, if signed, could help thousands of IT professionals who pay social security taxes while they live and work in the U.S. but are unable to derive the benefits once they leave the country. The minister explained that many of the IT professionals who come to the U.S. on H1-B visas face a handicap in terms of social security deductions. The duration of their H1-B visas are for three years and another extension for three years, which makes it a total of six years. But under U.S. rules they are entitled to the benefits only if they work for 10 years. IT and other professionals contribute $500 million per year to the Social Security Administration, but they don't get back any of the benefits once they return home.