US grants Strategic Trade Authorization-1 status to India
New Delhi, Aug 4 (IBNS): In a major development, the US has granted Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) status to India, thus allowing the Asian giant to gain a wide scope of exports without specific licenses, and equalling it with almost the NATO allies of America.
The US has issued federal notifications over the matter.
Nations like Japan and South Korea were earlier granted this status.
The US move of granting the STA-1 status to India means it paved the way for high-technology product sales to New Delhi.
These sales include products in civil space and defence sectors.
India is still not a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
The US has so far mostly placed only those nations in the list that are members of the four export control regimes namely Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), Australia Group (AG) and the NSG.
India Embassy in the US earlier tweeted: "Amb @NavtejSarna greets @SecretaryRoss . Commerce Secretary Ross today spoke on importance of Indo-Pacific @USIBC in Washington DC, and also announced Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) Tier 1 status for India. EAM @SushmaSwaraj @MEAIndia."
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross tweeted in reply: "It was an honor to meet with Ambassador @NavtejSarna earlier this week and participate in the #IndoPacificBizForum at the @USIBC. India's new status will benefit U.S. manufacturers while continuing to protect our national security."
Earlier In 2016, the Obama government had granted India the bespoke status of a Major Defense Partner of the United States paving the way for greater India-US defense technology cooperation.
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