India, Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the list of 20 major drug producing and trafficking countries, the United States on Tuesday said.
India along with Pakistan, Afghanistan and 17 others are major producing and trafficking countries, U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.
Mr. Kellly, however, said that a country’s presence on the list does not necessarily reflect its counter-narcotics efforts nor does it reflect its cooperation with the U.S.
“The designation can reflect a combination of geographic, commercial, and economic factors that allow drugs to be produced and/or trafficked through a country despite its own best efforts,” Mr. Kelly said in a statement.
Other countries identified as major drug-transit or drug-producing countries include Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela.
The list prepared for the purposes of the Foreign Relations Authorisation Act has been notified to the Congress.
Of these, the U.S. has found that Bolivia, Burma, and Venezuela, have “failed demonstrably” during the last 12 months to adhere to international counternarcotics agreements and to take measures set forth in U.S. law.
