Wassenaar Arrangement decides to make India its member, builds up case for NSG membership

The Wassenaar Arrangement membership is also expected to build up a strong case for India’s entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) has decided to make India its new member — a move that could bolster the country’s non-proliferation credentials as well as access to high-technology in the fields of space and defence.

The Wassenaar Arrangement plays a significant role in promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies. (Shutterstock image)

The decision was taken at the two-day plenary meeting of the grouping in Vienna on Thursday, even as India continues to step up its efforts to get entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, an elite club of countries that deals with nuclear technology and fissile materials.

“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.

Welcoming the move, the external affairs ministry said the membership was expected to “facilitate high technology tie-ups with Indian industry and ease access to high-tech items for our defence and space programmes”. Members of the group are not bound by any treaty, but they exchange information on their transfers of conventional weapons and dual-use goods to countries that are not part of the arrangement.