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India hails technology pact with
US
By A Ganguly
BANGALORE - A
new technology agreement signed last month by the United
States and Indian governments is aimed at giving US
companies greater access to markets in India, while also
exposing government agencies and local companies to new
high-tech products.
As part of the statement of
principles signed by the trading partners, a US-India
technology cooperation group will be formed to promote
high-tech trade. This is the first such group formed by
Washington. "This is likely to enable Indian companies
and government agencies to lay their hands on more
high-tech products. It's a big step forward
post-Pokhran," a Delhi-based defense analyst noted,
referring to previous US sanctions imposed against India
following its testing of nuclear devices in 1998.
The sanctions, which included a ban on the
procurement of a number of high-tech products by India,
were eased last year when India lent its support to the
US and allied forces in the war on terrorism.
The Indian government is now holding the
technology accord as a milestone in India-US relations.
The pact was signed in Washington by Kenneth Juster, US
undersecretary of commerce, and India's foreign
secretary, Kanwal Sibal.
"There is immense
potential for trade in the high-technology sector
between the United States and India, in areas ranging
from information technology to telecommunications to
biotechnology," Juster said. The agreement "will serve
as the framework for advancing such trade between our
two countries consistent with our national security and
foreign policy interests," he said.
The signing
indicates that both governments recognize that there is
potential for US-India high-technology commerce. It also
acknowledges "the need to address economic and systemic
issues inhibiting such trade, including tariff and
non-tariff barriers, the need to engage in outreach and
trade promotion to US and Indian industry on market
opportunities and the central role of the private
sectors in generating increased bilateral
high-technology commerce".
The first meeting of
the US-India high technology cooperation group is likely
to be held soon. The pact is seen in India as one of the
most significant technology developments between the two
countries. One area of possible cooperation includes
talks on supplying US sensor and radar equipment for
India's defense forces.
Opto Circuits, an
export-oriented local sensor maker, feels that the pact
will help it bag bigger orders from the US defense
forces, as well as major health care segments.
Similarly, defense equipment manufacturer, the
state-owned Bharat Electricals Ltd (BEL), is likely to
gain considerable exposure to the latest technology if
the product flows start, industry observers say.
Nevertheless, the agreement also recognizes the
need to prevent the proliferation of sensitive dual-use
technology. US export control laws limit the types of
technology that can be shipped to sensitive regions such
as India. However, scientists feel that the pact will
facilitate high-end research in the meteorology and
health care sector, where many of the instruments used
have to be imported.
Moreover, the Indian
supercomputer project is likely to get a fillip as
scientists look forward to taking their research to the
next level aided by imported inputs.
Juster and
Sibal had met earlier in New Delhi in November 2002,
when they pledged to consider measures designed to
enhance bilateral high technology trade, including trade
in dual-use products and technology.
Industry
impact
BEL, which was brought under US sanctions
post-Pokhran, maintained through the past three years
that it weathered the impact of the sanctions by
identifying alternate sources and components to meet its
requirements for executing orders.
"As a result
of such alternative and remedial measures, BEL has
managed to insulate the defense services from the
effects of the US sanctions," BEL chairman and managing
director V K Koshy said. "The company is no longer
dependent on US companies for supply of critical
components. The sanctions actually turned out to be a
blessing in disguise," he said.
"Initially, the
sanctions had some impact on the company's working.
Sensing that it would be long before curbs [were]
lifted, we lost no time in setting up special task
forces in all our premier units for scouting for
critical items outside the US, and succeeded in securing
them," Koshy said.
However, the recent pact and
gradual easing of such sanctions will stand the company
in good stead as it is likely to allow exposure to
different new technology, especially in radar and
sensors.
Traders who import high-tech equipment
for industrial usage stand to gain through the pact.
Several higher education centers and research and
development institutions whose research efforts have
suffered following the sanctions feel that the new pact
will help augment their efforts.
However, the
chairman of the Super Computer Research Center, Dr N
Balakrishnan warned, "This is a trade pact. Trade will
stand to benefit, though we welcome such a move,
institutes like ours are likely to stay insulated by
this development."
Educational institutions like
the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the
Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the Physical
Research Laboratory, the Department of Aerospace
Engineering and Space Technology of the Indian Institute
of Science, the Indian Institutes of Technology in
Chennai and Mumbai were all affected by the sanctions.
Now, new hi-tech research tools and software could be
made available to these institutes.
Government-controlled laboratories and units
under the Department of Atomic Energy, the Defense
Research and Development Organization and the Indian
Space Research Organization, the National Aerospace
Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research, and research and development institutions such
as the Center for Development of Advanced Computing will
also be able to crawl out from under the blanket of
sanctions and procure state-of-the-art equipment for
cutting-edge research.
(©2003 Asia Times Online
Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
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