India, US must boost bilateral trade: Frank Wisner

Former US ambassador to India, Frank Wisner, said India was important to the US and that America supported the rise of India and was looking forward to more support from the Indian government for bilateral trade.

Wisner was speaking in Pune at a special interaction organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Indo-US relations on Tuesday. Wisner agreed that US was facing a troubled situation. “The downslide of the European financial system is adding to the woes of the US, which would affect the world economy. The political house in the US is divided over many important issues which makes matters worse,’’ he said.

Wisner, however, felt that India too was struggling with slow economic growth, growing inflation and corruption. He felt that the two countries can help out each other by creating more opportunities for bilateral trade. “India is important in maintaining balance of power in Asia. Hence, its economic support and success matters to the US,’’ Wisner said. Stating that he was disappointed with the steps taken by the UPA government in its second term towards strengthening trade between the two countries, the ex-ambassador said, “In recent months, bilateral trade has slowed down.

We had pinned our hopes on the UPA government for opening retail trade, better infrastructure, simplified tax code and land acquisitions for our projects and passage of the nuclear bill.

“But we are disappointed as the government has not taken any concrete steps to improve economic relations between the two countries,’’ he added.

It is important that reforms gather speed in India. He felt that factors like films and travel were playing a major role in improving cultural ties.