India joins as full member of MTCR - Fusion - WeRIndia

India has joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) as a full member. This is the country’s first entry into any multilateral export control regime. Due to the strong opposition from China and several other countries, India could not manage to get NSG membership.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that India applied for membership of MTCR last year and all the procedural formalities have been completed. The document of accession into MTCR will be signed by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar in the presence of Ambassadors of France, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

While this has been successfully done, China’s opposition of India’s entry into the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) led to failure of India of joining NSG but at the same time, China is not part of the 34-nation MTCR.

The Indian government is looking to get in to export control regimes like NSG, MTCR, the Australian Group, and the Wassenaar Arrangement ever since the civil nuclear deal with the US. These regimes regulate the conventional, nuclear, biological and chemicals weapons and technologies.

Last year, India’s case in MTCR was opposed by Italy. The reason for the opposition is due to the marine dispute. However the dispute was solved after both marines who were accused of murdering two fishermen off the Kerala coast were allowed to return.

The opposition in MTCR was even lessened for India after it agreed to join the Hague Code of Conduct. The conduct deals with the ballistic missile non-proliferation arrangement.

By joining MTCR, India will have the option to buy high-end missile technology and also enhance its joint ventures with Russia. MTCR and similar regimes are generally made to control and monitor the procuration of missiles, complete rocket systems, unmanned air vehicles and related technology for systems capable of carrying a 500 kilogramme payload for at least 300 kilometres. They also apply for systems which made for delivery of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Image credit: Missiles image by Thomas Quine is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Image Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/23388791110