India wants social security pact with US

India on Friday said it is keen to have a social security pact with the United States, on the lines New Delhi has with the European countries, to address issues like double payment by companies of both the countries.

"We are interested in a social security dialogue. We have discussed with the US side on the conclusion of what is called a totalisation of agreement by our IT companies," India's new envoy to the US Meera Shankar said at a reception hosted in her honour by the US-India Business Council.

Acknowledging that there may be some reservations in Washington, she said: "Clearly we would like to pursue an agreement on avoidance, perhaps as the first step, of double payment of social security by the US companies in India for US nationals who may be employed there and by the Indian companies in the US for Indian nationals who may be employed here."

It is a kind of agreement, which India has concluded with several European partners. "It should be possible for us to take this forward," she said in her maiden public engagement after presenting her credentials to President Barack Obama on Thursday.

"From the US side, interests have been expressed in commencing negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty and we hope to do that as soon as the new government is in place," she added.