India joins Wassenaar Arrangement

India took another step towards joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group Friday when it was granted membership of the 41-member Wassenaar Arrangement, a key non-proliferation export control regime.
Image for representational purpose only
Image for representational purpose only

NEW DELHI: India took another step towards joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group Friday when it was granted membership of the 41-member Wassenaar Arrangement, a key non-proliferation export control regime.

China, which has repeatedly blocked India’s entry into the NSG, is not a member of the Arrangement, which aims to coordinate and align international policies governing exports of arms, dual-use equipment and sensitive technologies.

Though this will further embellish India’s nonproliferation credentials and give it more access to sensitive technologies, it does not guarantee entry to the NSG, where consensus is a must for membership.

“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,” said a statement released after the group’s two-day plenary meeting in Vienna.   

The stringent criteria for joining the Arrangement includes accepting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but this was waived for India due to US, German and Russian pressure citingIndia’s immaculate non-proliferation record.

The India-US nuclear deal of 2005, India’s tightening of its export control list earlier this year and its accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime would also have helped New Delhi’s case.

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