India and US- IP team

India and the US have come up with a plan to set up a high-level working group on intellectual property to solve the contentious issues which have been hampering investments. The group will be constituted as part of the Trade Policy Forum (TPF).

The US-India TPF is the principal trade dialogue body between the countries.

It has five focus groups:

1. Agriculture
2. Investment
3. Innovation and Creativity
4. Services, and
5. Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers

“Agreeing on the need to foster innovation in a manner that promotes economic growth and job creation, the leaders committed to establish an annual high-level Intellectual Property (IP) Working Group with appropriate decision-making and technical-level meetings as part of the TPF,” said a joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.

Expressing confidence that their mutual economic ties would improve further, Modi recently sought easier access for Indian service companies to the US economy during his talks with Obama.

Seeking to end the impasse in the WTO, India and the US have directed their officials to “urgently” start consultations with other WTO members to work out the next step. “The leaders directed their officials to consult urgently along with other WTO members on the next steps,” the statement added.