Christina Rocca, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs

Washington : The Bush administration has made it clear that the United States is not against outsourcing of jobs to India or any other country, despite the outcry against it in certain sections of American society, said Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca. She was testifying before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the House International Relations Committee on June 22 on ‘U.S. Policy Towards South Asia.’ The committee was chaired by Rep. James Leach (R-IA).

Explaining the U.S. policy on outsourcing, Rocca said it would however be helpful if India wouldup its markets to more goods and services to help bring down the furor “against India-bashing” in the U.S. and help create or increase jobs in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The question of outsourcing was raised during the question and answer session by the delegate from American Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega (Democrat), who wanted to know about the administration’s position on the issue. “What are we talking about in terms of jobs? I mean, these are American companies now doing business with Indian companies, and in reading reports of the media, it seems like there’s a whole problem that we’re outsourcing, to imply millions of jobs. Is this India-bashing fair?” he asked.

Rocca said she did not have the exact number of jobs lost due to outsourcing. “I don’t have the latest numbers at my fingertips, and certainly India’s not the only country to which the U.S. companies outsource jobs. I think the U.S. Trade Representative has made it clear that we do not oppose outsourcing. What we would like to see in exchange is anng of markets in India and other countries, which in turn provide more jobs in the United States. That’s sort of the way it’s been

formulated. But I don’t think you’ve heard any India-bashing on the part of the administration with respect to outsourcing of jobs.”

Faleomavaega went on to say that the jobs were headed towards India because it has a vast number of professional workers, and is an English-speaking nation unlike China. “I have heard of so much India-bashing on the issue that I think it is unfair to say that some 100,000 jobs are outsourced when we’re losing 2 million jobs for other reasons and not because of the outsourcing of these jobs,” he said

Congressman Thomas Tancredo (R-CO) raised the issue of H1-B and L1 visas, which he said was being widely misused and abused. Rocca said the State Department was seized of the matter and was “very very serious about visa fraud.”

“India is one of those countries where the visa request is booming. We have an extremely high number of Indians coming to the United States.”

To another question from Tancredo on what he called “growing discrimination and persecution of religious minorities in India,” Rocca said, “I think India as a nation has always prided itself on its secular character, and the Congress Party in particular has made a point of reaching out to minorities, to all minorities, and of wanting to maintain the secular character of the Indian nation. And I think that will probably be the policy they’re set to enunciate.”

Meanwhile, Rocca also put up a stout defense of Pakistan’s policies and actions at the hearing, where several leading lawmakers made it a point to stick their stamp of disapproval not just on Pakistan but also on the U.S. policies towards Islamabad.

Several Congressmen, particularly Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Joe Crowley (D-NY) and delegate from American Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega questioned Pakistan’s sincerity in the war on terror, its democratic credentials, and its spread of nuclear proliferation through the A.Q. Khan network.

Ackerman, in a very strongly worded statement, demanded that the U.S. should impose sanctions under either the Glenn or the Symington amendments against Pakistan for the transfer of nuclear weapons designs and related technologies to terrorist states like North Korea.

In a prepared statement, Rocca said that in Pakistan “all our policies and programs support our primary goal of helping Pakistan reach its objective of becoming a moderate prosperous state, and preventing terrorism – directly through security programs that control extremism and instability.”

She said the military funding to Pakistan was aimed at facilitating the capture of Osama bin Laden and the remnants of Taliban. These funds were also strengthening the U.S.-Pakistan military ties, Rocca said, adding that the International Monetary Fund and the donor community were impressed by Pakistan’s economic performance and the structural reforms it had undertaken.