Thaindian News

Chennai, July 20 (IANS) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday expressed her concern over the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and said there needs to be an innovative solution to the problem, a statement issued by the Tamil Nadu government said.

Flying in here from New Delhi Wednesday afternoon, Clinton called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa at the state secretariat in the evening. Both had long discussions on trade, investments, social, political aspects, the statement said.

During the course of the discussions, Jayalalithaa told Clinton that though the war in Sri Lanka was over two years ago, the Tamils there were still in camps and unable to go back to their original places.

Jayalalithaa told Clinton that the Sri Lankan refugees living in the state are provided with all the facilities that are available to the local citizens.

On bilateral trade and investments, Jayalalithaa said the Indian import of US services will see a sharp increase in the coming years owing to the growing middle class in India.

Jayalalithaa suggested both the governments to formulate a policy to engage CEOs from mid-size companies in each country to work towards facilitating an enabling environment for small and medium enterprises, leveraging technology, sourcing, and strengthening the global supply chain management system in the automotive sector.

The US Secretary of State expressed the view that there was great potential for US investment in Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalithaa also told Cliton that both the governments can work together in the area of solar energy, skill development and the road sector.

Reacting to this, Clinton said Overseas Private Investment Corporation in the US has many opportunities for investments in Tamil Nadu.

Jayalalithaa also requested Clinton to increase the issuance of H1B visas to earlier levels of 195,000, as the current quota is very low at 65,000.