Blacklisting
of agencies:
India-US talks may be hit
Tribune
News Service
NEW DELHI, Nov 17
The US move to blacklist 240 Indian government agencies,
private companies and research institutions may cast its
shadow on the next round of talks between the Prime
Ministers special emissary, Mr Jaswant Singh and
American Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott.
Mr Jaswant Singh is
expected to lobby hard to impress upon his US counterpart
about the possible fall-out of the US action. The next
round of talks between the two is scheduled in Rome for
November 19,1998. Interestingly the list will be
published in the Federal Register on the same day.
Even as the analysts said
that the blacklisting could affect the nuclear and
missile-related commerce, the Scientific Adviser to the
Indian Defence Minister, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam expressed
confidence that Indias nuclear and missile
development programmes would not be affected by the
denial of technology by the USA. The analysts said those
companies would be able to do business provided the
traded good is not of "dual purpose".
A "good" is said
to be of "dual purpose" if it can be used for
both peaceful as well as destructive purposes. For
instance, fertilisers can be used for farming as well as
chemical warfare. This is where the issue is open for
interpretation and some confusion may creep in, an expert
said.
The US Administration is
said to have claimed that the blacklisting is actually
going to increase the flow of goods and services across
the two countries.
This belief is predicated
on the principle that the US industry would now know
which goods are actually to be traded and which are to be
not.
The meeting assumes
significance in the wake of the possible fallout of the
"entities list". The Clinton Administration had
released a blacklist of over 300 Indian and Pakistani
government agencies, government affiliated firms, private
companies and military entities targeted for sanctions
for alleged nuclear weapon development links.
Observers said that the
USA had been trying to give the impression that Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was committed to the
signing of the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT)
without really acknowledging the Indian stand on
negotiations.
The US Commerce Department
had said that the release of the "entities
list" was envisaged to "facilitate
implementation of the sanctions by helping US exporters
to conduct trade in a more transparent manner".
Among the blacklisted are
the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre, the Indira Gandhi Centre for
Atomic Research, the Fertiliser Corporation of India, the
National Aerospace Laboratory, the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research and the Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited among others.
Contrary to the US claim,
the Indian industry has strongly condemned the US action
of issuing the entities list. The Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) President Mr Rajesh V. Shah, said this
reflected inconsistency of US policy towards India and
particularly Indian industry.
Stating that this was
"uncalled for, unwarranted, untimely and harmful to
Indian business", Mr Shah said that it creates
confusion about US strategy towards India.
According to the CII, the
entity list implied that any US company doing business
with the listed Indian organisations, or vice versa,
would have go through a US licensing procedure and the
basic presumption was that approval would be denied.
The Union Industry
Minister, Mr Sikander Bakht, described the US move as a
"childish game". "It is not at all fair
and right. I dont think that the USA should have
played this sort of dirty game".
Mr Vijay Kirloskar, whose
companys name figures in the blacklist said that
the exact implications of the US action was not clearly
understood. He, however said that the move would not
affect the companys import requirements in any way.
The brain behind
Indias missile programme, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
said that science and technology was part of the global
arena and should not be disturbed by technology denial
regimes.
Dr Kalam said that
whenever embargoes had been imposed on the country, it
had emerged as a cost effective technology developer in a
big way, including high technology areas.
Indigenous technology
systems had made India self-reliant in food production,
milk, vegetables, fruits, cereals and certain engineering
systems and also in space technology. Defence technology
and nuclear technology to a great extent, the Scientific
Adviser to the Defence Minister said.
It is the duty of the
scientific community to ensure that technology does not
become a pawn in the hands of geo-politics, Dr Kalam said
while inaugurating the Third International Associations
of Technology Assessment and Forecasting Institutions
(IATFI) here.
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