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According to the visiting US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the framework agreement for boosting trade and investment between the India and the US is almost finalized.
"We have made great progress towards a formal framework towards cooperation on trade and investment which we hope to sign in the very near future," Kirk told reporters after co-chairing the sixth annual India-US Trade Policy Forum with Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma.
Describing the meeting as "extraordinarily productive", Kirk said one of the goals for travelling to India within two months was to "improve the tone and frankness of the discussions".
These discussions will help strengthen relations further ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit the US next month, he said.
"In the much talked about example, we open up our agricultural market to Indian mangos. These freely flow into our country. In return, we had hoped to export pistachios, which are very strong staple of your diet, not grown domestically, and high-end motorcyles. Today, not one Harley Davidson motorcycle has been sold in India," he said. Kirk said the issue of allowing more H1-B visas to India was raised by the Indian delegation.
