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India denied MTCR entry, but wins wide support
India denied MTCR entry, but wins wide support . ndia has failed in its maiden attempt to win consensus support for its entry to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). But, inspiring hope for India, the outgoing Norwegian chairman of the grouping, Roald Næss, tweeted after the meeting concluded on October 9: \"Broad support for Indian membership in MTCR, but regrettably no consensus yet.
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Details of the MTCR plenary, held on October 5-9, were not disclosed but there are indications that Italy, peeved over the prolonged trial of two of its marines in India in a shooting case, asked for time. There was no confirmation though. Acceptance in MTCR will enable India to gain several restricted technologies, like some of the aircraft jet engines or cryogenic rocket systems
New Delhi : India has failed in its maiden attempt to win consensus support for its entry to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). But, inspiring hope for India, the outgoing Norwegian chairman of the grouping, Roald Næss, tweeted after the meeting concluded on October 9: "Broad support for Indian membership in MTCR, but regrettably no consensus yet.
I remain optimistic." The 34-member voluntary grouping ended its 29th annual session in the port city of Rotterdam in Holland that day without any decision on India's application for membership. India formally applied for the membership of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in June 2015 with active support from the US and France.
Although an odd country may have opposed India's proposal, there is considerable victory for the country insofar as most members of the various denial regimes have come to appreciate New Delhi's persistent non-proliferation policies on nuclear weapons and missiles. External affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup observed that India's application was "received well and it remains under consideration".
Although India was the target of some of these denial regimes right after its first nuclear test in 1974, New Delhi indicated its willingness to join them after its second nuclear tests in 1998. In April 2012, then foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai told strategic experts at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in New Delhi that it was time for India to join these four regimes, beginning with the NSG.
This was the first formal, and categorical, move by India, and ever since, diplomats handling disarmament at the external affairs ministry have successfully engaged various capitals. The MTCR holds its plenary session in October. Whether India's application will now be considered a year later next October, or sometime before that, is to be seen.
Details of the MTCR plenary, held on October 5-9, were not disclosed but there are indications that Italy, peeved over the prolonged trial of two of its marines in India in a shooting case, asked for time. There was no confirmation though. Acceptance in MTCR will enable India to gain several restricted technologies, like some of the aircraft jet engines or cryogenic rocket systems.
Sources told India Strategic (www.indiastrategic.in) that Indian diplomats will now shift their focus on another goal: entry to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Admission into either the MTCR or NSG will be a landmark development for India. In the latter though, New Delhi could face hurdles as China insists on parity with Pakistan despite Islamabad's record of nuclear and missile proliferation.
The NSG was, ironically, initiated by the US specifically to target New Delhi after India's 1974 nuclear test. Significantly now, Washington is supporting India's entry into all the four denial regimes - NSG, MTCR, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group. India hasn't signed any of the denial regimes but has voluntarily adhered to them.
The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile for instance, which India makes in collaboration with Russia, adheres to the MTCR ambit. India has steadily maintained a clean record, and as Mathai had pointed out three years ago, India has "a law-based export system, covering about nine different legislations," and that "the nation's export controls are in line with the highest international standards".
It may be recalled that although Indira Gandhi demonstrated India's nuclear capability, she did not allow it to be weaponised. She did want nuclear-powered submarines, and possibly nuclear attack capable, also because of the perceived threat from China, but she chose not to translate this capability into hardware. It was only in 1988 that prime minister Rajiv Gandhi gave the go-ahead for nuclear weapons after India's external intelligence agency, RAW, informed him that Pakistan had already done so.
By Gulshan Luthra
