Information Technology Minister Arun Shourie on Wednesday asked Indian industry not to read patterns into the recent spate of backlash on Indian IT professionals abroad but said the government was in constant touch with various countries on these matters.

"There is no connection between the recent events including the Polaris case in Indonesia and i-flex in the Netherlands," Shourie said in New Delhi.

On the legislations proposed by some US states on outsourcing, Shourie said, "It has not yet become a law."

Stating that Indian embassies were active in various countries on the issue, Shourie said that the anti-outsourcing bill in New Jersey was relating to only government procurement.

"We have established a big presence in IT and we should continue to be indispensable. We should mobilise beneficiary companies so that they know by not availing the services they will become uncompetitive."

At the same time, Indian companies needed to strictly adhere to visa norms, he said, adding that government was working closely with the National Association of Software and Service Companies to create greater awareness on the issue.

To encourage manufacturing activities in India, the IT ministry is setting up a taskforce comprising mostly of hardware industry representatives who would guide the government on policy related issues, Shourie said.

Citing the success story of Indian IT major Moser Baer, Shourie said India should emerge as a strong destination for hardware facilities also.

On the competition faced by the software sector from China, the minister said, "India will face tough competition from China in software. To counter this, we should move up the value chain by getting into software products."