India Reassesses Biosafety Rules After US Discloses Funding 120 Biolabs in 30+ Countries
Updated
Updated · frontline.thehindu.com · Jun 18
India Reassesses Biosafety Rules After US Discloses Funding 120 Biolabs in 30+ Countries
2 articles · Updated · frontline.thehindu.com · Jun 18
Summary
US disclosures released June 12 said Washington funded more than 120 biological laboratories across 30-plus countries, with some facilities conducting gain-of-function research, prompting India to review how it governs foreign-linked pathogen work.
India was not publicly identified in the ODNI material, but the report says that absence does not rule out past or current US-supported labs or collaborations and makes transparency the central issue.
Three steps are proposed: a public registry for foreign-funded high-consequence pathogen research, a coordinated national review mechanism across agencies, and periodic scrutiny of BSL-3 and BSL-4 collaborations and overseas sample transfers.
India's case is shaped by earlier controversies, including the WHO-ICMR mosquito project disbanded in 1975 and later questions over the Manipal Centre for Virus Research's sample shipments and regulatory status.
As India expands high-containment labs and biotech capacity, the report argues Parliament should regularly review biosafety, biosecurity, data governance and international biological partnerships as matters of national security and public trust.