India is viewing the proposed US legislation to restrict the use of L-1 visas by Indian companies as a move to prevent the services negotiations under the World Trade Organisation from progressing.

The US is trying to use the legislation to arm-twist developing countries to support it in pushing the agenda of developed countries at the trade talks.

"The visa issue and the US reluctance to move forward on intellectual property rights and public health, after agreeing to it in Doha, are all aimed at blocking the interests of the developing countries till it gets our support on areas of interest to them," a senior government source said.

The US has single-handedly blocked any movement on the issue of intellectual property rights and access to cheap medicines.

These demands have been repeatedly voiced by developing and the least developed countries. The deadline for arriving at a consensus on these issues has also passed.

The proposed legislation by the US House of Representatives to  restrict the use of L-1 visas by Indian companies is expected to severely affect the Indian IT industry in the long term.

The bill introduced recently, will prevent an employer from placing a non-US citizen, who is an intra-company transfer, with another employer.

This will stop the Indian companies to send employees who would work on on-site projects in the offices of clients.

The issue of L1 visas is expected to figure on Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley's agenda during his visit to the US next week.

Commerce ministry officials, however, said India was interested in a comprehensive discussion on the issue and was going to project the denial of access to manpower as market denial at a time when the developed countries were using market access as the buzzword in international trade.

The officials said during his US visit, Jaitley will try to present India's case on various multilateral trade issues and also seek the support of the US in blocking some issues like a framework under WTO on Competition Policy.

The European Union has been pushing for the inclusion of a multilateral framework on investment, competition, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation.

The US is, however, opposed to the inclusion of a competition policy as it is expected to affect American companies.

On the bilateral front, India is expected to seek a generalised system of preferences benefits for over 800 items, a demand that has been pending for some time.