Washington: India was among the seven Asian nations put by US on its "watch list" of countries involved in human trafficking.

Besides India, other Asian countries in the 'Tier 2' of the Watch List for 2003 by the US State Department are Japan, Laos, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Nations deemed to be complying with the US and international efforts to fight human trafficking are placed under 'Tier 1' while those making "significant efforts" are placed under 'Tier 2'.

Bangladesh is the only South Asian country to be put in the 'Tier 3' in the Department's 'Trafficking in Persons' report released yesterday.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who delivered the report to President George W Bush and the US Congress and also released it to the media, warned that countries falling under 'Tier 3' face "significant sanctions".

He estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 cases each year of trafficking victims are taken across international frontiers.

That does not include those who are victimized within their own countries. The vast majority of victims, international and otherwise, are women and children.

Powell called on all nations to redouble their determination to prevent people from being lured into trafficking in the first place.