Hyderabad: India today (Jan 12, 2004) said Asian countries should take a concerted action against the outsourcing backlash by the US, Europe and Australia to challenge the growing threat of protectionism, while charting out a three-point agenda for the Asian nations on taking Information Technology (IT) to the masses.

"Outsourcing backlash is a common concern now in the Asian countries. We should take a concerted view and action on the outsourcing backlash unleashed by US, Europe and Australia and face these challenges with a strong counter force," Arun Shourie, Union IT and Communication Minister said in Hyderabad at the inauguration of the second Asian IT Ministers' summit.

Shourie said similar arguments and cases also come up in World Trade Organisation (WTO), as certain countries could not go on expecting opening up of goods and services from others while protecting their own services and markets.

Lauding India's IT sector and its professionals as exemplary in the global scenario, he said 35 per cent of the research and development is done by Indians and 100 of the Fortune 500 companies have set up their R and D centres in India.