India on January 19, 2018 gained entry into the Australia Group (AG), becoming the 43rd member of the important non-proliferation regime which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons. India had earlier gained membership of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) in December 2017. Australia Group is among the four more export control regimes. India is yet to become a member of the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSC).
India has managed entry into all three groups despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Significantly, China is not a member of the WA or the MTCR, both of which play a significant role in promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, China is also not a member of the AG.
India's application to the NSG has been pending largely due to opposition from China, which wants the group to frist draw up guidelines for all the candidates who have not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Pakistan has also applied to join the NSC, but has never heen granted a waiver for the NSG's export rules, unlike India, which was given one in 2008. Since its civil unclear deal with the US, India has been trying to get into export control regimes such as the NSC, the MTCR, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement that regulate the conventional, nuclear, biological and chemicals weapons and technoligies.
The Australia Group :-
Australia Group (AG) is a cooperative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons by states or terrorist groups. The first meeting of Austalia Group took plce in Brussels in June 1985.
At that meeting, the 15 participating countries and the European commission agreed that there was value in exploring how exsting export controls might be made more effective to prevent the sread of CW. The Group has met regularly since then, and annual meetings are now held in Paris.
