On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s entry into the elite nuclear clubs including Australia Group (AG) has stated again strongly the country’s contribution to worldwide peace.
In his tweet on Saturday, the Prime Minister said that over the past two years, India’s membership of Australia Group, Wassenaar Arrangement, and MTCR confirms India’s strong non-proliferation credentials and the country’s commitment to global peace and security. In another tweet, Narendra Modi continued to thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for supporting India’s new membership in the club on Friday.
India was admitted as the 43rd member of the AU through a consensus decision. This is the third export control group that the country has joined. It is already a member of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.
The government of India issued an official statement on Friday stating that India had joined the Australia Group after the conclusion of international procedures for joining the club. In the statement released by Attorney General K. K. Venugopal, India formally became a member of the AG on the 19th of January 2018. The Australia Group is a cooperative and voluntary group of countries that are working hand in hand to counter the spread of equipment, materials, and technologies that could contribute to the acquisition or development of chemical or biological weapons (CBW) by states or terror groups
In reaction to this new membership, MEA spokesperson Ravish Kumar commented that the entry in the group would be mutually beneficial and would help in non-proliferation. He continued to say that India’s membership in the Australia Group would continue to continue to contribute to the international security and non-proliferation objectives. Kumar thanked the former Chair of the Australia Group Ambassador Jane Hardy of Australia for her role in facilitating India’s joining the group.
After the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Wassenaar Arrangement, this latest membership in another of the four major export control regimes is expected to give India a leg-up in its bid to secure a berth in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group. This group (NSG) is a multilateral export control regime that consists of nuclear supplier countries that are aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation by monitoring the export of technology, equipment, and materials that can be used to make nuclear weapons.
