The U.S. Department of the Treasury removed four Indian companies from the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List on Monday, June 30. The move came the same day that U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said Washington and New Delhi are in the final stages of negotiating a long-awaited trade agreement.
The four companies were among 21 entities — including 19 companies and two individuals — sanctioned in 2024 under Executive Order 14024 for providing financial, material, or technological support to the Russian government.
The de-listed companies include Hyderabad-based RRG Engineering Technologies Private Limited and Lokesh Machines Limited, Ahmedabad-based Galaxy Bearings Ltd, and Delhi-based Shaurya Aeronautics Private Limited. Two of these companies–Galaxy Bearings Ltd and Shaurya Aeronautics Private Limited are private listed companies, reported Hindustan Times, a daily Indian newspaper.
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The companies removed from the sanctions list are Hyderabad-based RRG Engineering Technologies Private Limited and Lokesh Machines Limited, Ahmedabad-based Galaxy Bearings Ltd., and Delhi-based Shaurya Aeronautics Private Limited. According to Hindustan Times, Galaxy Bearings Ltd. and Shaurya Aeronautics Private Limited are publicly listed companies.
Retired Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, an Indian defense analyst, told Vision Times that the companies had not been supplying Russia with strategically significant goods.
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“They had passed through Export Control regulations of India, which is fairly stringent,” Sinha said, adding that the Trump administration likely concluded that sanctions on the companies were having little practical impact because the Russian organizations involved continued to operate as before.
“These sanctions have not led to any reduction in Russian military capability and its application in the Ukraine conflict,” Sinha said.
Trade deal enters final stage
The Treasury Department did not provide a reason for removing the four companies from the sanctions list. The decision, however, comes as Washington and New Delhi move closer to concluding a long-awaited trade agreement.
Speaking Tuesday at the India Strategic Partnership Forum Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., Gor said the two countries are in the final stages of negotiations following 18 months of talks.
“We are in the final steps on this deal. Most of this deal is complete. There are a few items that remain on both sides. It’s in the last 1 per cent of that deal,” Gor said, according to the Press Trust of India.
Gor said the agreement is expected to provide greater certainty and stability for businesses engaged in bilateral trade. Trade between the United States and India currently totals about $220 billion annually, and both countries aim to increase that figure to $500 billion under the proposed agreement.
“As I mentioned, the trade deal, we’re close to getting it done through very active negotiations. I mean, pretty much the last three weeks we’ve had travels back and forth. Minister Goyal was in New York… followed by Ambassador [Jamieson] Greer in Delhi right afterwards,” Gor said.
