India joins the Australia Group
India has become the 43rd member of the Australia Group (‘AG’). The AG said that a consensus was reached after a show of ‘very strong support’ for India’s membership at its plenary in June 2017.
The AG is an informal group of countries committed to preventing the spread of materials and technologies that could contribute to the proliferation of biological or chemical weapons. It is the third multi-lateral export control regime to which India has been admitted in the past two years: India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (‘MTCR’) in June 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017. It is not yet a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, for which it failed to achieve the required consensus in June 2016.
The Australia Group said that its members ‘recognised the Government of India’s commitment to bring India’s export control system into alignment with the Australia Group’ and India’s ‘determination’ to contribute to the collective effort to prevent the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.
For the Australia Group press release see here: http://www.australiagroup.net/en/india_statement.html
For the Indian Ministry of Affairs press release see here:
www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/29366/India_joins_the_Australia_Group_AG
