Elite multilateral export control regime joined by India

On December 7, elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) decided to admit India as its new member, which is expected to raise New Delhi’s position in the field of non-proliferation besides helping it acquire critical technologies.

The decision was taken at the two-day plenary meeting of the grouping in Vienna.

“Wassenaar Arrangement participating states reviewed the progress of a number of current membership applications and agreed at the plenary meeting to admit India which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state as soon as the necessary procedural arrangements for joining the WA are completed,” the grouping said in a statement.

The entry of India into the export control regime would upgrade its credentials in the field of non-proliferation even though it is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The WA membership is also likely to build up a strong case for India’s entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Considerably, China is not a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement.

The Wassenaar Arrangement has a significant role in promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.

Its member countries are required to ensure that transfers of these items do not contribute to the development or enhancement of military capabilities which undermine these goals. The aim is also to prevent the acquisition of these items by terrorists.

In June 2016, India joined another key export control regime, the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as a full member.

Since its civil nuclear deal with the US, India has been trying to get into export control regimes such as the NSG, the MTCR, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement that regulate the conventional, nuclear, biological and chemicals weapons and technologies.

French ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler congratulated India on “joining” the Wassenaar Arrangement. “One more recognition, after MTCR, of the growing role India plays in today’s world,” he said.