Che Guevara
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Last week, the United States formally approached three export control regimes, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Australia Group, to induct India as a full member of these groups. This comes alongside India’s efforts to do its own bidding with this regimes.
It’s learnt that Washington has begun the process by circulating a non-paper among member countries, which makes a strong case for India’s membership. More importantly, it seeks a specific exception for India so as to foreclose any assumption of creating a set of fresh criteria for future members. This was important because China has been backing the criteria-based system rather than a country-specific decision.
According to reliable sources, this only showed that the process is “moving further” and that both India and the US were involved in “parallel processes to achieve the same objective of full membership for India in these regimes”. But insiders also added that “no early decision was expected”.
The US has conveyed to other member countries that India’s induction will be consistent with the core principles of these regimes. While India is already eligible for membership of the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, the main hurdles are in the NSG and the MTCR. Both these regimes have conditions which are drawn from the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In other words, a member of these groupings ought to be NPT-compliant even though that is specifically not stated.
The template for Delhi is the formulation both sides reached in the joint statement issued last November during US President Barack Obama’s visit to India. This states: “The US intends to support India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement) in a phased manner, and to consult with regime members to encourage the evolution of regime membership criteria, consistent with maintaining the core principles of these regimes.”
Over the last few months, India has held outreach talks with the NSG, MTCR and Australia Group. In fact, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao discussed India’s case with the NSG troika at The Hague last month. India came back with the assurance that the NSG would discuss this during its next plenary this month.
At the same time, the US non-paper means a member has sought for a discussion on this issue and that would automatically raise the seriousness levels. The NSG, it may be noted, was formed as a response to India’s first nuclear test in 1974 when it was suspected that New Delhi had diverted nuclear material meant for peaceful purposes to start a military programme.
With the Indo-US civil nuclear initiative having taken off, the issues that are now on the table are totally different. Given the quantity of nuclear commerce headed India’s way over the next decade, sources said, it is better for India to be part of these regimes than be out of it.
US moves to get India into 3 exclusive n-clubs - Indian Express
It’s learnt that Washington has begun the process by circulating a non-paper among member countries, which makes a strong case for India’s membership. More importantly, it seeks a specific exception for India so as to foreclose any assumption of creating a set of fresh criteria for future members. This was important because China has been backing the criteria-based system rather than a country-specific decision.
According to reliable sources, this only showed that the process is “moving further” and that both India and the US were involved in “parallel processes to achieve the same objective of full membership for India in these regimes”. But insiders also added that “no early decision was expected”.
The US has conveyed to other member countries that India’s induction will be consistent with the core principles of these regimes. While India is already eligible for membership of the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, the main hurdles are in the NSG and the MTCR. Both these regimes have conditions which are drawn from the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In other words, a member of these groupings ought to be NPT-compliant even though that is specifically not stated.
The template for Delhi is the formulation both sides reached in the joint statement issued last November during US President Barack Obama’s visit to India. This states: “The US intends to support India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement) in a phased manner, and to consult with regime members to encourage the evolution of regime membership criteria, consistent with maintaining the core principles of these regimes.”
Over the last few months, India has held outreach talks with the NSG, MTCR and Australia Group. In fact, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao discussed India’s case with the NSG troika at The Hague last month. India came back with the assurance that the NSG would discuss this during its next plenary this month.
At the same time, the US non-paper means a member has sought for a discussion on this issue and that would automatically raise the seriousness levels. The NSG, it may be noted, was formed as a response to India’s first nuclear test in 1974 when it was suspected that New Delhi had diverted nuclear material meant for peaceful purposes to start a military programme.
With the Indo-US civil nuclear initiative having taken off, the issues that are now on the table are totally different. Given the quantity of nuclear commerce headed India’s way over the next decade, sources said, it is better for India to be part of these regimes than be out of it.
US moves to get India into 3 exclusive n-clubs - Indian Express
