An announcement in this regard is anticipated as early as this week, possibly during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US at the invitation of US President Barack Obama, sources tracking the development told PTI. Speaking to The Hindu from Dublin, Mr. Naess, who was the Chair in 2015, said India’s membership to the MTCR had been “a priority from the start”, recounting how a block had been placed on the emerging consensus just three weeks before the plenary in Rotterdam past year.
Advertisement
Entry to the Missile regime, which regulates nuclear proliferation by restricting export of missiles carrying more than “500-kilogramme payload with a range of at least 300 kilometres”, as well as “unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with mass destruction capabilities”, is expected to clear the way for India to export high-tech missiles and purchase hardware like the U.S. Predator drones.
Established in 1987, the voluntary MTCR aims to limit the spread of ballistic missiles.
For past several years India has been aggressively trying to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which is considering new applications at a meeting next week.
While the diplomats said they’re not opposed to letting India into the NSG eventually, they said the terms of entry require more negotiating to preserve the credibility of the trade controls. However, a bigger issue for some NSG members is that the promise of nuclear reactor construction contracts with India never materialised.
Moreover, membership to MTCR will shore up India’s chances for membership in the other groups, including the NSG. The Non-Proliferation Principle seeks to cover the rare but important cases where adherence to the NPT or to a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty may not by itself be a guarantee that a State will consistently share the objectives of the Treaty or that it will remain in compliance with its Treaty obligations.
The US has been lobbying for India.
China’s objection to India’s membership to the NSG is by no means a principled stand given its own proliferation history, which one analyst called a “very bad record”.
Italy had objected to admitting India, but after an unrelated bilateral dispute was resolved, did not object this time within a 10-day deadline after the group’s chair, the Netherlands, wrote to members suggesting India be welcomed.
Advertisement
“And frankly, it takes place against continued conversations that we have with India about their approach to nuclear weapons; and of course, the support that we’ve always expressed for diplomatic efforts between India and Pakistan”, Rhodes said in response to a question at an event organised by the Arms Control Association.
