India’s quest for NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) membership received a big boost over the weekend, as the South Asian nation became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG) – the export control regime that seeks to check proliferation of chemical and biological weapons.
The AG confirmed the news, saying in a statement: “On January 19, 2018, India formally became the 43rd member of the Australia Group (AG), the co-operative and voluntary group of countries working to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to the development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups.” Earlier, India had become the member of two such export control regimes – Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Wassenaar.
For the top political leadership in New Delhi, it’s a diplomatic victory for India over China. As with MTCR and Wassenaar arrangements, China – which continues to block India’s NSG membership bid – is not a member of the AG. Senior spokesperson of the Indian External Affairs Ministry Ravish Kumar said that the AG membership would be “mutually beneficial and to help in non proliferation”, as it would also help India in establishing its credentials further.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that India’s recent entry into elite nuclear groups (MTCR in 2016, Wassenaar in 2017 and AG in 2018) has reaffirmed its firm non-proliferation commitments. The PM, who is confident that the AG membership would certainly raise his country’s stature in the field of non-proliferation and help acquire critical technologies, tweeted: “I thank Australia and other members of the Australia Group for export control for supporting India’s entry in it.” He further expressed hope that the latest move might allow India to become a NSG member by reaffirming its “strong non-proliferation credentials”.
In the last few years, China has encouraged some countries, such as Turkey and Pakistan, to oppose India’s NSG membership bid on technical grounds. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult for India (not being a signatory to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) to join the NSG. With the US talking to all parties to push for India’s entry into the NSG, experts have advised the Modi government to try to bypass China in order to ensure the NSG membership. According to experts, only Australia and the US can help India in this regard.
“Look forward to working together to strengthening our collective efforts against the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons,” tweeted Australian High Commissioner to New Delhi Harinder Sidhu.

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Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das