TOI correspondent from Washington: In a parting gift that is not expected to meet any resistance from the incoming Trump dispensation, the Biden-Harris administration on Tuesday removed three proscribed Indian organisations — the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Indian Rare Earths (IRE), and Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Center (IGCAR) — from the US Commerce Department‘s “Entity List,” saying the move will support US foreign policy objectives.
In the same notification, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 11 Chinese organisations to the Entity List, citing “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.”
“With these Entity List additions and removal, we have sent a clear message that there are consequences for supporting China’s military modernization, and alternatively, incentives for working with the US to further shared foreign policy goals and stronger bilateral relationships,” a senior US administration official said, calling the Entity List “a powerful tool that can be used to shape behavior that advances US national security and global cooperation.”
About India, the official said the removal of three entities “will enable closer cooperation between the United States and India to secure more resilient critical minerals and clean energy supply chains,” adding that the “action aligns with and supports the overall ambition and strategic direction of the US-India partnership.”
The notification about the changes said the revision with regards to India removes barriers to advanced energy cooperation, including joint research and development and science and technology cooperation, towards shared energy security needs and goals.
“The United States and India share a commitment to advancing peaceful nuclear cooperation and associated research and development activities, with strengthened science and technology cooperation over the past several years that has benefitted both countries and their partner countries around the world,” it added.
The Chinese organisations proscribed were not named in the notification. Typically, entities on the list are subject to individual licensing requirements and license applications for entities on the list are reviewed with a presumption of denial.
As part of its belated realisation that China is catching up and even overtaking it in some critical technologies, Washington has in recent months been putting a hex on Chinese companies involved in military technology, 5G, AI, and other advanced areas. The US is also trying to energize its strategic ties with India that has progressed in fits and starts with many wrinkles still to be ironed out.
