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March 18, 2000

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Clinton to talk on Indo-US IT ties in Hyderabad

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George Iype in Hyderabad

US President Bill Clinton will speak on the new technology mantra to a gathering of IT professionals and industrialists at Cyber Towers in Hitec City in Hyderabad on March 24.

According to officials, the American president's address in will certainly mention details of the information technology bridge that he hopes India and the US will create in the new millennium.

Along with Clinton will come a number of expatriate Indian Silicon Valley gurus. India's own IT giants, like Wipro CEO Azim Premji, Infosys Technologies CEO Narayana Murthy, Satyam Computer Managing Director Ramalinga Babu and other software leaders and dotcom entrepreneurs led by tech-savvy Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will also be present.

Officials at the Confederation of Indian Industry and the central ministry of information technology who are overseeing the Hitec City programme said before Clinton's 'IT address' a number of proposals and joint agreements in information technology will be cleared.

The proposals, which the ministry of information technology are giving final shape in consultation with the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi, include removal of double taxation on Indian software engineers working in the US and easing of visa restrictions for Indian IT professionals.

The agreements to be signed between the two countries might be in the fields of hardware, Internet applications, electronic commerce and information and communications infrastructure.

"The IT agreements will be in the areas of technology partnerships and developments. Out attempt is to build a total Indo-US co-operation in the knowledge-based industry," an official in the ministry of information technology told rediff.com.

He said one major highlight of the Clinton visit will be "a new IT co-operation and friendship between India and the United States.

"The fact that dozens of US-based Indian IT entrepreneurs are coming to the country... makes it clear that, along with Kashmir and CTBT, information technology too will be a subject of intense discussion," he said.

The Indian government hopes the US will announce a few important concessions, like lifting of double taxation and visa restrictions. Indians have often sought that double taxation be avoided because Indian software professionals deputed to work in the US now pay nearly 22 per cent of their salary as social taxes.

India is advocating that since these software employees are already covered under Indian social security schemes like the provident fund and pension schemes, the US should not impose its social taxes on them.

Likewise, the Indian government has been pressing for fewer visa restrictions and the issuance of short-term visas called 'L-visas' so that more software professionals could go to the US.

Official sources said a few big Indian software companies had already taken up the issue with the US government separately and that their case has been considered favourably.

The US foresees tremendous potential in dealing with India in IT since this country, along with China, are expected to be the biggest Internet and e-commerce players in future.

Many expect that with the leaps the US and India are making in the knowledge-based industry, Clinton might even announce a new IT policy between the two countries.

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