India hardens stance against U.S. protectionism ahead of visits

By Manoj Kumar and Rajesh Kumar Singh NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's trade minister on Tuesday accused the United States of excessive trade protectionism, launching a broadside that coincided with the visit of a top U.S. official to patch up a stormy bilateral friendship. The ruling Congress party government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh does not want to be seen as bowing to U.S. pressure on trade issues ranging from the quality of Indian drug exports to software piracy. "There are issues which India has raised where we feel there is very high and unacceptable protectionism," Trade Minister Anand Sharma told reporters, adding that Washington made it too hard for Indian nationals to obtain U.S. visas. He also said that India's patent law was compliant with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), while India would not agree to tougher rules to protect intellectual property.