India enters the Australian group

January 22, 2018 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani No comments

India, as one of the few countries in the world with its own nuclear weapons, is gaining increasing presence in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

India is a member of both the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA).

Now, India has also joined a third non-proliferation regime, the Australia Group (AG). With India being a part of all three of these groups, its stature in non-proliferation will be raised and it will be able to gain more critical technologies.

The only one of the four major non-proliferation regimes which India has not yet joined is the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

The AG is a voluntary non-proliferation group, dedicated to regulating the spread of technologies, materials, and equipment that could be used to make or acquire chemical or biological weapons.

Being a part of this group will allow India to have more influence over the control of the non-proliferation of dangerous weaponry, such as nuclear weapons.

India has also made a bid to join the NSG, but this bid was stonewalled by China.

Made up of 48 nations, the NSG could provide India with an even more influential say on the regulation of weapons and weapon technologies.

Interestingly, although China is a member of the NSG, it is not a member of either the MTCR or the WA.

India, however, is a part of both of these groups, and these two groups permit nations to have a significant responsibility in the regulation of weapons and weapon technology, especially nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon technology.

In general, India has been gaining a greater stature in the field of non-proliferation after its civil nuclear deal with the United States, which allowed it to get into the MTCR, the WA, and the AG.

Going forward, India may see its stature in the field of non-proliferation raised even more.

Image credit: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)