Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on Monday attacked the United States for its "double standard" in prodding other countries to open their markets to its goods and services on one hand and protecting its own markets and jobs on the other.

"On one hand US talks of globalisation and liberalisation while on the other it was proposing a ban on outsourcing jobs to India, saying it is taking away the jobs from computer professionals there," Advani said in Ahmedabad on the penultimate day of his visit to areas under his Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency.

Outsourcing and India: Complete Coverage

He said the multinational companies were not "obliging" India by operating in the country; they were doing business in India because the country gave them highly skilled workforce and good returns on their investments.

Advani said even foreigners were being attracted by the state-of-the-art and economical healthcare facilities in India.

He also said that e-governance would be an important tool for India to emerge as a developed nation by 2020. He also called for the need to bridge the "digital divide".

Advani observed that south India had been taking great strides in information technology and the north had a long way to catch up with the south.

On Gujarat, he said though the state was one of the frontrunners in development, there was more to be done, such as spreading literacy.