US would like India to move forward on opening retail

"We said last week that we felt like it was a deal that was in the best interests of both the United States and the Indian people and businesses and would obviously be a boon to both our economies," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday.

"We want to see it eventually move forward. But this is a decision for the Indian Government to work out," he said in response to a question whether the US was disappointed that the retail trade decision is not moving forward.

Last week too, Toner had said that FDI in retail trade would be beneficial to both India and the US, but it would wait for the debate over it to play out in a democracy like India.

"We understand that this is a domestic Indian issue. We understand the government's decision to allow time for a consensus to be forged. We believe that this is a deal that's in both our countries' interests," he then said.

"It's a domestic debate right now. We're very clear on our position. This is good for both our countries. We believe it should go forward, but we'll allow that debate to play out in India."