February 7, 2003	Friday	Zul Hijjah 5,1423

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NEW DELHI, Feb 6: The United States on Wednesday eased its rules on the export of dual-use technology to India, in a landmark step which officials said would forge a new strategic partnership between the two countries.

The sale of US dual-use technology, or hi-tech products that could also have military applications, to India has been banned since the country became a nuclear power in 1998.

Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal and US Commerce Undersecretary Kenneth Juster signed the accord in Washington to ease the export rules and set up an India-US “high technology cooperation group” to boost bilateral trade, said a statement by the US embassy here.

“This document transforms India-US relations in a far-reaching manner,” a US official here said of the pact.

The US slapped a series of sanctions on India in retaliation for the 1998 nuclear tests.

The sanctions have made India’s defence industry hesitant about buying from the US, fearing that imports of spare parts could be blocked in the future for political reasons.

The restrictions remain on 13 Indian firms Washington says are engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction.

But the US official said the latest accord would transform relations between the two countries, “based on mutual trust and confidence on each other’s principled opposition to proliferation”.

“The governments of (the) United States and India recognize the untapped US-India high-technology commerce, the need to address economic and systemic issues inhibiting such trade, the need to engage in outreach and trade promotion to US and Indian industry on market opportunities,” the statement said.

The agreement “also recognizes both governments’ commitment to preventing the proliferation of sensitive good and technologies, and notes the need to facilitate high-technology trade consistent with laws and national security and foreign policy objectives”, it said.

An Indian foreign ministry spokesman described the development as a “milestone”.

“The foreign secretary’s visit constitutes an important milestone in the wide-ranging and intense dialogue between India and the United States at the highest official level,” he told reporters.

—AFP