India in US list on drug transit

In a memorandum to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday, Trump said that a country’s presence in the list is not necessarily a reflection of its government’s counter-narcotic efforts or level of cooperation with the US

Apart from India, the countries identified in the list are Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

Combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to transit or be produced, even if a government has engaged in robust and diligent narcotics control measures, are the reasons countries are place on the list, according to the US.

Trump designated Bolivia and the “illegitimate regime” of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela as having failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months to adhere to their obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements.

In Colombia, he said that President Ivan Duque has made early progress in rolling back the record-high coca cultivation and cocaine production levels inherited from his predecessor.

He said Mexico needs to do more to stop the flow of deadly drugs entering the US. “We need the Mexican government to intensify its efforts to increase poppy eradication, illicit drug interdiction, prosecutions, and asset seizures, and to develop a comprehensive drug control strategy,” he added.