India unsatisfied with Obama's limited high-tech cooperation promise

India is not satisfied with the U.S. President's Barack Obama's address of limited high-technology co- operation, saying his promise could benefit only a small part of the Indian research entities, local media reported on Wednesday.

On Nov. 8, U.S. President Obama said in New Delhi during his visit to India, "We need to forge partnerships in high-tech sectors like defense and civil space. We have removed Indian organizations from our so-called 'Entity List'. We will work to reform our controls on exports. Both of these steps will ensure Indian companies seeking high-tech trade and technologies are treated the same as our closest allies and partners," the Indian newspaper Business Standard reported.

The current Entity List is an American tool to control the export of dual-use and strategic materials and systems. Four Indian research organizations ,in part or in full, are on the Entity List: short-range missile developing Bharat Dynamics Limited, and the "Missile Research and Development Complex", a group of four laboratories of the Defense Research and Development Organization(DRDO) near Hyderabad, which is developing the intermediate-range missiles.

The list also features some key facilities of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and several establishments of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), according to the report.

India's research entities are now not satisfied with the dim words "Indian organizations" by Obama: Have all Indian organizations been removed from the Entity List, or only a selected few?

An Indian analyst said it is impossible for the U.S. to remove all Indian organizations from the Entity List. That is to say, merely a few organizations could benefit from the U.S. high-tech ban-lifting measures.

The other unsatisfied point by the Indian research entities is Obama's call for partnership in "defense and civil space". That means it is unnecessary for the both sides to seek partnership in military space programs, and the Indian research organizations of the military space will continue to face the U.S. sanctions.

The Indian analyst said the U.S. side fears that high-tech co- operation in the military space between the two countries would endanger the U.S. military presence in the Asia- Pacific Region. For instance, the Indian intercontinental ballistic missile in development could strike most of the U.S. military targets in the Asia-Pacific Region.

An official of the ISRO said a new exclusive organization for military space programs would be set up. It will ensure the U.S. could not proscribe ISRO by accusing it involvement in the militarization of space.
(Source:xinhua)