US India Biz Council splits from 'meddling' US Chamber
14 July 2017 6:00 PM GMT
A top American business advocacy group representing US companies having footprint in India has decided to part ways with the all-powerful US Chambers of Commerce, accusing it of undue interference in its work, a media report has said.
In an unprecedented move, the high-profile Board of the US India Business Council (USIBC) unanimously voted 29-0 to separate from the US Chambers of Commerce, which is the world s largest chambers of commerce, The Washington Post reported.
USIBC's board members include some of the top names in the American corporate world like Indira Nooyi of Pepsico, Ajay Banga of Mastercard and John T Chambers of Cisco.
USIBC, which was formed by the US Chambers of Commerce at the request of the then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in 1975, in its board meeting decided to function as an autonomous body and move out of the historic US Chambers building across the White House.
The US Chambers of Commerce, which according to the paper fired USIBC president Mukesh Aghi alleging that he was not reporting to it, has said that the USBIC has no authorisation to decide its pathway of separation.
The US Chamber of Commerce president Thomas J Donohue in a letter to USIBC Board Members said that the group cannot separate from it without its concurrence.
Donohue described the USIBC as a "programme" with "no autonomous existence outside of the US Chamber," the daily said.
"The USIBC has no separate existence and its board has no legal authority," Donohue said, adding that the Chamber would continue to operate the programme and "will not consent to the demands of a group of disaffected individuals".
As of Friday morning, the USIBC website had removed the name of Aghi as its president and has named Khush Choksy as acting president.
The USIBC plunged into crisis soon after its highly successful annual event which was addressed by US Vice President Mike Pence on June 27.
"A member of the USIBC board said that Donohue was unhappy that the USIBC invited Vice President Pence to a meeting because Donohue wanted to invite Pence to a different event," the report said.
India sets up mechanism to promote EU investment
India and the European Union have decided to set up a mechanism to facilitate EU investments into the country, the Commerce and Industry ministry said on Friday.
The Investment Facilitation Mechanism (IFM) will allow for a close coordination between the EU and India with an aim to promote and facilitate investment in India, the ministry said in a statement.
As part of the IFM, an EU delegation to India and the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) agreed to hold regular high-level meetings to assess and facilitate ease of doing business for EU investors in India.
"This will include identifying and putting in place solutions to procedural impediments faced by EU companies and investors in establishing or running their operations in India," it added.
Commenting on this initiative, Tomasz Koslowski, Ambassador of the European Union to India said, "establishment of the IFM is a right step in the direction of strengthening the trade and investment ties between the EU and India".
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