US Puts India On List Of Countries With Access To Sensitive Technology

India has become the third country in Asia to have been granted the Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) nation status by the US, which enables it to get access to products listed under the ‘high-technology’ tag.

Japan and South Korea, treaty allies of the US, are the only other countries in Asia to get the tag. Until now, India had the STA-2 tag along with seven others in Aisa, which meant it could not get access to sensitive technology.

Granting of STA-1 status became possible when the Trump administration recognised India as a “Major Defence Partner” in 2016.

India is the only South Asian nation to be on the list, which has 36 countries.

The STA-1 designation will come as a boost for the India-US security and economic relationship. It will allow India to get technology and high-tech defence equipment from the country, important for economy and defence respectively.