U.S., India ink maiden cooperation deal on labor, employment issues

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States this week expanded cooperation with India on labor and employment issues with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was hailed by both as a tool to enhance strong bonds between the two democracies.

Calling the MoU “an essential part of our bilateral relationship,” Mark Toner, the State Department spokesman, told journalists on Friday, “When you look at our relationship and the strategic dialogue that we have with India, there’s many baskets of issues that fall under that rubric, and certainly labor laws are one of those.”

Earlier on Thursday, Mallikarjun Kharge, visiting Indian minister for labor and employment, and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis inked a bilateral MoU for cooperation in the areas of skill development, youth employment, occupational safety and health and mines safety and health.

Kharge emphasized that, “the road map laid down in the Memorandum of Understanding will facilitate very close cooperation and interaction between our two countries and bring about improvements in the life of workers and their working conditions.”

Welcoming the structured bilateral engagement, Solis said, “Our governments share a firm commitment to workers and their rights. Today marks the launch of a new program to share valuable information that will ensure that workers’ rights are respected.”

Kharge said that India was interested in increasing its know-how in the areas of accreditation systems, self-regulation and auditing through collaboration, exchange and sharing of ideas, among other initiatives with the U.S.

During a press conference with Washington-based Indian media, the minister said, “This is the first time India and the U.S. is signing such an important document and naturally it is going to help both of us–more to us and they will be also very anxious to help us.”

Citing a vision by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of teaching skills to 500 million persons by 2022, the visiting minister stated that collaboration with U.S. would “enrich us in the areas of training delivery methods, certification, preparation of instructional material, curriculum development and expanding outreach.”

The latest cooperation move would help in further developing “an appropriate employment strategy for inclusive growth in India and strong bonds between the people of our two great nations,” Kharge emphasized.

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