India gets admission into Wassenaar Arrangement

India gets admission into Wassenaar Arrangement

Context

Wassenaar arrangement admits India as its member

What has happened?

The Plenary meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) held on 6 to 7 December 2017 in Vienna, Austria, has decided to admit India, which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state. The necessary procedural arrangements for India’s admission will be completed shortly

Significance

• India will get access to high technology, which will help address the demands of Indian space and defence sectors
• It help India to raise its stature in the field of non-proliferation, even though it is not a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT
• It will also boost New Delhi’s chances of joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
• It will facilitate high technology tie-ups with Indian industry and ease access to high-tech items for our defence and space programmes
• While membership of the Arrangement would not automatically entail any preferential treatment from other WA members, it would create the grounds for realignment of India in the export control policy framework of other WA members, including eligibility for certain licensing exceptions

Backdrop

Since its civil nuclear deal with the US, India has been trying to get into export control regimes like Wassenaar Arrangement and the NSG. In June last year, India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as a full member