US Decision To Sell Advanced Tech Proof Of Our "Impeccable Record": India

India has welcomed the Trump administration's decision to ease export controls for high-technology product sales, saying the move will further boost collaboration between the two countries in defence and other areas.

The Trump administration announced on Monday granting India the status of Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 or STA-1 country, the only South Asian nation to be given the designation along with the NATO allies like South Korea, Australia and Japan.

The STA-1 status will help India getting critical technology from the US in the defence and certain other key areas.

Foreign Minister spokesperson Raveesh Kumar called Washington's decision a logical culmination to India's designation as a major defence partner of the US, and a "reaffirmation" of its "impeccable record" as a responsible member of the multilateral export control regimes.

"We welcome the announcement made by US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in the Indo-Pacific Business Forum on July 30 about the US government's decision to move India into Tier-1 of the Department of Commerce's Strategic Trade Authorisation license exception," Mr Kumar said.

He said the step will further facilitate India-US trade and technology collaboration in defence and high-technology areas.

"We look forward to the US side operationalising the decision at an early date," Mr Kumar said.

In June 2016, the US had designated India as "Major Defence Partner" intending to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.

Announcing the decision to granting India STA-1 status, Mr Ross on Monday said it was "a very important change" in India's status in the export control regime.

The designation authorises the export, re-export and transfer (in-country) of specified items on the Commerce Control List to destinations posing a low-risk of unauthorised or impermissible uses.

Currently, there are 36 countries on the STA-1 list. Till recently, India was designated STA-2 countries, along with seven others.

The STA-1 status, Mr Ross said, provides India with greater supply chain conditions for defence and other high-tech products.

The decision by the US comes over a month before talks between India's foreign and defence ministers with their US counterparts under the framework of the "2+2" dialogue.