Ensuring the rising foreign direct investment (FDI) by Indian companies is protected is an “entirely new dimension” the government is seeing in its negotiations even as it continues its review of the model Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT), Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha ‌Thakur said on Friday, adding that it will soon be sent to the Cabinet for approval. “…with ODI (overseas direct investment) flowing out, every negotiation we also have to bear in mind that our own investors, companies will also need protection. She was responding to a question on whether the government is looking to reduce the five-year timeframe the 2015 model BIT demands foreign investors exhaust pursuing domestic legal remedies before seeking international arbitration to settle disputes. Critics have often cited this local-remedies clause – which did not exist prior to the 2015 model BIT – as a hurdle for foreign investors. On rising FDI by Indian companies, she said it is “a good thing as it shows a certain maturity of the Indian private sector”.