NEW DELHI: Two days after the US State Department sanctioned 19 Indian companies and two Indian citizens over allegations that they were supplying items to the Russian military, India has reaffirmed that it has a robust regulatory framework in place.
“We have seen reports on US sanctions. India has a robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade and nonproliferation controls. We are also a member of three key multilateral non-proliferation export control regimes -- the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime -- and have been effectively implementing relevant UNSC sanctions and UNSC resolution 1540 on non- proliferation,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said on Saturday.
India has said that the sanctioned transactions and companies are not in violation of Indian laws.
“Nevertheless, in keeping with India's established non-proliferation credentials, we are working with all the relevant Indian departments and agencies to sensitise Indian companies on applicable export control provisions, as also inform them on new measures being implemented that could impact Indian companies in certain circumstances,” Jaiswal added.
Regular strategic export control outreach events for Indian industries and stakeholders are being carried out by agencies of the government of India, he said, adding, “We are also in touch with the US authorities to clarify the issue.”
It may be recalled that on Wednesday, the names of 19 Indian companies and two Indian nationals surfaced on a list of nearly 400 such names in a US State Department notification.
The sanctions have been imposed on companies that the US alleges have been aiding Russia in their war against Ukraine.
The India-based companies that have been named include Ascend Aviation India Private Limited which the US State Department alleges sent over 700 shipments to Russia-based companies between March 2023 and March 2024.
"These shipments included over $200,000 worth of CHPL (Common High Priority List) items such as US origin aircraft components," said the US State Department.
The two Indian nationals named are the co-directors of Ascend Aviation -- Vivek Kumar Mishra and Sudhir Kumar.
Other Indian companies in the list include Mask Trans, TSMD Global, Elektron Komponent and Futrevo.
The US State Department says that the sanctions will disrupt evasion and target entitites in multiple countries including China, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and UAE (apart from India) for selling 'items and other important dual-use goods' to Russia which includes components that Russia needs for its weapons to wage war against Ukraine.
The products that these sanctioned companies are manufacturing include microelectronics and computer numerical control items (CNC) on the CHPL, as identified by the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) alongside the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK) and Japan.
"The US will continue to use all tools at its disposal to disrupt support for Russia’s military-industrial base and curtail the Kremlin’s ability to exploit the international financial system and generate revenue in furtherance of its war against Ukraine. The State Department seeks to disrupt the networks and channels through which Russia procures technology and equipment from entities in third countries to support its war effort," the US State Department said.
