TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ India’s entry into the Wassenaar Arrangement would enhance its credentials in the field of non-proliferation despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In a significant development, elite export control regime Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) on Friday 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.
“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.
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.
The WA membership is also expected to build up a strong case for India’s entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group. Significantly, China, which stonewalled India’s entry into the 48-nation NSG, is not a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement.