BARC Among Three Indian Entities To Be Taken Off US Sanctions List

<p>Three Indian entities were removed from the US’s sanction list by the Biden administration on Wednesday. The move comes just days before Joe Biden’s scheduled handover of the Presidency to Donald Trump. Among the three organisations to be struck off the US sanction list were Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre (IGCAR), and Indian Rare Earths, reported news agency PTI.</p>
<p>The removal of the three Indian entities will boost cooperation between the United States and India. The move will also help secure more resilient critical minerals and clean energy supply chains, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Matthew Borman said.</p>
<p>These three Indian entities will support US foreign policy objectives by reducing barriers to advance energy cooperation, the Bureau of Indian Standards said in a statement.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the BIS added 11 Chinese entities to its Entity List for activities which are opposed to the US national security and foreign policy interests. The US and India are committed to advancing peaceful nuclear cooperation and associated research for development, the BIS said. It also said that the two nations want to strengthen their ties in the fields of science &amp; technology and build over the relationship shared in the past several years. The BIS further said that such mutual cooperation has benefitted both nations and their partner countries around the globe.</p>
<p>As these actions demonstrate, the Entity List is a powerful tool that can be used to shape behaviour that advances US national security and global cooperation,&rdquo; said Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan F Estevez. &ldquo;With these Entity List additions and removals, we have sent a clear message that there are consequences for supporting the PRC&rsquo;s military modernization, and alternatively, incentives for working with the US to further shared foreign policy goals and stronger bilateral relationships,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>Former Ambassador of India to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu hailed the removal of the three Indian organisations from the US sanction list. He said this was a result of “deepening” India-US cooperation.</p>