Statement on India and the Nonproliferation Export Control Groups

Press Release — November 8, 2010

The joint statement released in Delhi, India, on November 8 by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that “the United States intends to support India’s full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes.” These are the Nuclear Suppliers Group; the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR); the Australia Group (which controls chemical weapons and their precursors); and the Wassenaar Arrangement (which controls armaments trade).

The announcement went on to note that the process of moving toward membership will occur in a phased manner. The groups’ members will need to adapt their membership criteria “consistent with maintaining their core principles,” and India will need to fully adopt the regimes’ export control requirements, a process it has already begun.

This step by the two governments is one that the Working Group on an Expanded Nonproliferation System had urged them to take in a statement issued on June 30, 2010. It acknowledges India’s good record in preventing proliferation, and it will strengthen the export control systems on which future nonproliferation depends.

The Working Group on an Expanded Nonproliferation System was formed in the summer of 2009 to identify goals for the nonproliferation system on which India and the United States might be able to agree, and to develop a workable road map for a revived nonproliferation system that could integrate India. The group is chaired by Ambassador Teresita C. Schaffer of CSIS and Joan Rohlfing of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

For more information, please contact Teresita Schaffer, tschaffer@csis.org, 202-775-3171.

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