US urges India to tighten copyright laws

Sharma defended India's record on intellectual property rights, saying implementation of copyright legislation was "rigorous."

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk urged India on Monday to tighten intellectual property rights and reduce import tariffs to help build on growing trade ties between the countries.

Kirk, in New Delhi for the sixth US-India Trade Policy Forum, said discussions with his host, Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, focused on - some very honest areas where we have room for improvement. -

He added - Outstanding issues on which the US has asked for more attention from India include improving of its intellectual property rights regime. -

This would give - greater comfort to American entrepreneurs and investors in the creative services area - Kirk said, adding that India's prolific Bollywood film industry meant it was in its own interest to clamp down.

Sharma defended India's record on intellectual property rights, saying implementation of copyright legislation was "rigorous."

- We are for a strong intellectual property regime - Sharma told reporters.

Kirk also said the US hoped for - an improvement and openness in the investment environment for US businesses in India. -

Trade between the world's two largest democracies stood at 61 billion dollars in 2007-2008.

But the United States was still - seeking access to the Indian market financial services and goods and services market - Kirk said.

According to the terms of a 2006 agreement, the US had opened its doors to Indian mangoes but New Delhi was yet to enact the reciprocal part of the deal, the import of the iconic Harley Davidson bikes into India.

- Today, not one Harley Davidson motorbike has been sold in India so these are some of the obvious areas where the tariffs are unnecessarily high and restricted - he said.

Kirk's visit, the second in as many months, comes ahead of Indian Premier Manmohan Singh's November state visit to the United States.