Following an unsuccessful bid to enter the coveted Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) due to opposition from China, India was declared a full-time member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) on Monday.
“India has joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) this morning. The MTCR Point of Contact in Paris has conveyed the decision regarding India’s accession to the regime through the Embassy of France in New Delhi as well as the Embassies of The Netherlands and Luxembourg,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in official statement.
India and China had applied for memberships in 2008 and 2004 respectively. While China awaits an official confirmation of its membership, India became the 35th member country in MTCR.
“India would like to thank each of the 34 MTCR Partners for their support for the membership,” the MEA added.
“In the past also, we (India) have tried to get membership into restrictive regimes so to speak. We had applied membership into Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and MTCR. At that time, many people said we will never get it. We had applied 10 years back. As I said, there are some processes which take longer (time). I will evaluate the NSG membership process in that category,” said the spokesperson of MEA Vikas Swarup.
The MTCR seeks to restrict the proliferation of missiles, complete rocket systems, unmanned air vehicles and related technology for those systems capable of carrying a 500 kg payload for at least 300 km.
