India will be the 42nd member of the multilateral export control regime, Wassenaar Arrangement. The group made the decision at its two-day plenary meeting in Vienna, which ended Thursday.
The Wassenaar Arrangement aims to bring transparency to exports of arms and dual-use goods and technologies. Members must maintain rigorous national export control systems. Joining the elite group will enhance India’s position in the field of non-proliferation and make it easier to acquire defence technologies.
This is the second such international victory for New Delhi in the past year and a half. In July 2016, India formally became a member of a similar export control group, Missile Technology Control Regime, which meant easier purchases of high-end missile technology and state-of-the-art surveillance drones for the country.
India’s membership to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group, however, remains elusive because of the opposition from China and some other countries. China is not a member of either the Wassenaar Arrangement or the Missile Technology Control Regime.
French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler congratulated India on being admitted to the group. “One more recognition, after MTCR, of the growing role India plays in today’s world,” he said.
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