Dr Rajiv Nayan is Senior Research Associate at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile.
Set up in 1985, the Australia Group has been controlling exports of chemical agents with military ramifications from the very beginning. It included Biological agents in the early 1990s.
Under the November 2010 statement issued by India and the United States, India is committed to take only one step: harmonizing its export controls with those of all the four multilateral export controls regimes.
The rising economic and political profile of India is making it to search for a new pattern of interaction with global forces. India's unique relationship with export controls is passing through a new and positive phase. In recent years, India is trying to integrate itself fast with global best practices for export controls. However, it is facing roadblocks in its integration with the existing system.
2011 began on a sombre note for arms control, nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament with Pakistan once again blocking negotiations for a FMCT
The international community inside and outside the Conference of Disarmament is underscoring the need for concluding a fissile material cut-off treaty (FMCT). The Indian government, for a long period, has been sponsoring the idea. Notwithstanding the international stagnation, the issue has been instigating periodic debate in India on the Indian approach. The periodic revival of the issue requires that India revisit its policy on fissile material production as well as its approach towards a possible FMCT.
India’s growing biotechnology industry is a subject of discussions all over the world. There are several Indian companies and laboratories which have come up against heavy odds and are known as world class. In the coming years, the Indian biotech industry is going to become very active in the world market. Its top companies are allocating substantial resources in the Research & Development sector.
The joint statement on nuclear issues reflects the combined endeavour of the two countries to find a new common ground, though the final outcome reflects the struggle of the traditional contending approaches of India and the United States.
India’s NSG Membership
Under the November 2010 statement issued by India and the United States, India is committed to take only one step: harmonizing its export controls with those of all the four multilateral export controls regimes.