Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said he had strongly brought up India's concern over the denial of professional visas for its workers, in his meetings with senior Obama Administration officials.
He said such action was counterproductive as Indian professionals over the years were the ones who were innovating and creating wealth in America.
Sharma said he "raised more than once the issue of visas, particularly for the professionals, given the fact that a large number of Indian entities are engaged here, innovating employment and generating or creating wealth."
He recalled that last June, "when I was in Washington, I had the privilege of releasing the IBEF(India Brand Equity Foundation) report that Indian companies had in the preceding three years generated wealth to the tune of $105 billion and created 300,000 jobs, including 250,000 in the IT sector."
Sharma also pointed out that that "there have been some significant agreements between the Indian corporate entities," and American firms, and referred to "recently Bharti (Enterprises Ltd.) has given a $2.5 billion contract to IBM to execute in India."
But when asked how hard he had pushed this issue, particularly since President Obama himself has argued against American companies outsourcing jobs overseas and said they would be denied tax incentives and liable for other kinds of penalties, and the mood in Congress in an environment of more than 10 percent unemployment is sympathetic to such actions, Sharma was philosophical.
"We remain in dynamic times - that what we live in," he said. "And policies as such, are made for the benefit of the citizens of the country for which the governments concerned make the policy."
However, he argued that "at the same time, we live in a globalized world, which is inter-connected and interdependent. We have Indian professionals visit other countries or go to work in other countries besides the United States of America and for that matter also in Europe and other parts of the world."
"In India, we have a large number of multinationals, which have their R&D (research and development) hubs in India, including 75 of the US majors. We have more than 130 of the Fortune 500 companies, which already have establishes bases in India. So, it is mutually rewarding. Eventually, a large number of business people and professionals come to India also."
Sharma said, "I would like the businesses here - they have been meeting me and without taking names, I can tell you the chairmen and CEOs of the who's who of the industry in the United States of America- each one of them have said that there is need of greater understanding, creating greater sensitivity about the contributions which Indian companies are making."
"Also, the fact that India is not a net exporter of services - we are a net importer of services too. We import more services," he pointed out.
"So the impression that the jobs are lost is not correct, and we do expect that the business leaders in the US will make a special effort to inform and sensitize those - and I am not generalizing - Congressmen and women, who may not have adequately informed or may have certain misgivings, which I would say are ill-founded."
Meanwhile, with regard to concern in US business circles - which had also been taken up forcefully by the US embassy in New Delhi - that after the arrest of Pakistani-American Laskshar-e-Tayiba operative David Coleman Headley, who had visited India several times posing as a businessman, that the Indian Home Ministry had been arbitrarily denying American businessmen visas, Sharma said this was not so and such scrutiny had to do with tourist visas and not business visas.
"We have had a comprehensive review," in the wake of these complaints, he said. "At no stage was our policy intended to restrict business visas or create difficulties for those who genuinely come for business and work."
Sharma said that "all our missions have complete clarity on our visa policy," and added: "In fact, as recently as last week- if my memory serves me right - an advisory has been sent out to all the Indian missions, because there were so many queries, which were coming to us on the business visas."
"But that has been done through the Foreign Ministry," he noted.
