New Delhi: India has raised with the US the issue of visa problems faced by Indian scientists engaged in bilateral cooperation programmes.

This was taken up by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during the recent meeting of the India-US High Technology Cooperation Group in Washington. The American side was led by Under Secretary of Commerce Kenneth Juster.

The two-day discussions focussed on promoting greater understanding and exchange of information in Defence technology, building human capacities in nano-technology, addressing regulatory issues and market access problems in biotechnology and advancing the data privacy programme in information technology.

More than 100 corporate participants and 35 representatives of Indian industry took part in the deliberations.

It reviewed progress in cooperation in the sectoral areas of Defence technology, advanced IT, biotechnology and nano-technology, External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters in New Delhi.

Terming the industry response as very positive, he said that they recognised the rapidly improving climate for high technology trade and strategic commerce.

The US side noted that dual use licenses for India had gone up from 423 in 2002 to 619 in 2003 and 912 in 2004. In value terms too, this trade has gone up from $26.78 million in 2002 to $90.06 million in 2004, he said.

The two sides agreed that a Data Privacy Forum will take place in India in 2005. US privacy experts will engage with their Indian counterparts in the context of their own multilateral contacts with APEC, OECD and EU, the spokesman said.

The American side announced that a major export control, licensing and promotion event was planned to be held in India in June next year.

Both sides shared the view that the 'Next Steps in Strategic Partnership' (NSSP) process had contributed to enhancing high technology trade through more efficient procedures, shorter timelines, more transparent documentation and more aggressive outreach activities.