India, July 12 -- As we approach the 20th anniversary of the US-India civilian nuclear agreement, it is worth reflecting on both the progress made and continuing challenges to India's navigation of US export controls. A major rationale for the 2005 nuclear agreement was to enable India to access strategic technologies from the US and its allies. Further reducing or harmonising export controls remains crucial both for strategic cooperation and for US and Indian businesses working in a variety of sensitive sectors - defence, aerospace, semiconductors, quantum, space, and chemical and biotechnologies - that generally require an export licence from a relevant government agency.

At face value, tremendous progress has been made in India's abil...