The United States on Tuesday described as "overreaction" the criticism in India of the attempts in some of its states to ban business process outsourcing.

"People should not overreact to every piece of legislation," Principal Deputy Assistant Secreatry Shaun Donnelly said adding that nothing had been legislated so far.

"We are consulting states on the issue. We are aware of our own obligations at the World Trade Organisation. We are a democracy and protests on loss of jobs happen in India also," he said.

If people come to streets in India on loss of jobs in agriculture, it could be loss of jobs due to outsourcing in the US, he said.

At the same time there was also opposition within the US to ban outsourcing, he said adding that the issue should be resolved by having frank bilateral talks on the merits of such protests.

On services negotiations, he said, "we have to see what India is offering before making any movement forward on the issue".