Home Commentaries & Articles Wassenaar Arrangement Agrees to Admit India as the 42nd Member

Wassenaar Arrangement Agrees to Admit India as the 42nd Member

Wassenaar Arrangement
India's entry into the export control regime would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Wassenaar Arrangement
India’s entry into the export control regime would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

New Delhi: In a significant development, elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) on Thursday decided to admit India as its new member, which is expected to raise New Delhi’s stature 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.

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

“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 Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), the first global multilateral arrangement on export controls for conventional weapons and sensitive dual-use goods and technologies, received final approval by 33 co-founding countries in July 1996 and began operations in September 1996.

The WA was designed to promote transparency, exchange of views and information and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing destabilizing accumulations.

India’s entry into the export control regime would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

This membership is also expected to build up a strong case for India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Significantly, China is not a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement.

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.

Wassenaar Arrangement

The WA countries maintain effective export controls for the items on the agreed lists, which are reviewed periodically to take into account technological developments and experience gained. Through transparency and exchange of views and information, suppliers of arms and dual-use items can develop common understandings of the risks associated with their transfer and assess the scope for coordinating national control policies to combat these risks.

Participating States meet on a regular basis in Vienna, where the Arrangement has established its headquarters and a small Secretariat. Decisions are made by consensus.

The next regular plenary meeting of WA will be held in Vienna in Austria in December 2018.