Clinton, Mukherjee for boosting India US partnership

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told the US delegation led by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton that India attaches high importance to the India US strategic and economic partnership.

Mukherjee stated that India is carrying its reforms agenda further by making major change in the tax sector – involving both direct and indirect taxes. Mukherjee said that in the field of direct taxes, efforts are on to make direct tax code (DTC) effective 1 April 2012.

In the field of indirect taxes, efforts are also on to build a consensus among all the stakeholders including state governments to make Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective at the earliest.

He said that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are expected to finalise the guidelines for the Infrastructure Debt Fund soon, which would help in expediting investment by US companies in India.

Speaking on the occasion, Clinton expressed her hope that the relationship between India and US in the field of trade, infrastructure investment, business, defence and strategic issues would be further strengthened.

She said that US and India have an excellent working relationship, especially in fields of economic and financial partnerships. She said that India can play a major role in enhancing regional economic cooperation and optimising the large potential available in this region.