India Assumes Wassenaar Arrangement Chairmanship

In News

• India assumed Chairmanship of Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) Plenary starting from January 1, 2023.
  • India will hold the Chairmanship for one year.

Wassenaar Arrangement (WA)

• About:
  • It is a voluntary export control regime formally established in July 1996.
  • The name comes from Wassenaar, a suburb of The Hague, where the agreement to start such a multilateral cooperation was reached in 1995.
  • It is an elite club of countries that subscribe to arms export controls, similar to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Australia Group (AG) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
• Objective: 
  • The WA monitors transfers of conventional weapons and dual-use goods and technologies through regular exchanges of information among its members.
• Aim: 
  • To promote “greater responsibility” among its members in exports of weapons and dual-use goods and to prevent “destabilizing accumulations.”
• Two Control Lists:
  • To promote transparency, Wassenaar calls on states to make a series of voluntary information exchanges and notifications on their export activities related to weapons and items appearing on the arrangement’s two control lists.
    • The Munitions List (Conventional Weapons)
    • The Dual-Use Goods and Technologies List
• Structure:
  • Secretariat is located in Austria’s capital Vienna.
  • The plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement is the main decision-making body that operates on consensus. 
• Membership:
  • It has 42-member including France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the UK and the USA.
  • The European Union and NATO are member states.
  • India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in 2017 as its 42nd participating state.

Importance of the Wassenaar Arrangement

• It contributes to regional and international security and stability.
• The WA promotes transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies
• The Arrangement complements and reinforces the export control regimes for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems.
• The WA is not directed against any state or group of states.
• It uses export controls as a means to combat terrorism.

Significance of India’s Chairmanship of WA

• Democratising Access to Processes & Technologies: 
  • India is expected to play an important role in democratising access to processes and technologies that are likely to play a critical role for the emerging space and defence manufacturers in the country. 
• Benefits for India’s Defence Sector: 
  • Membership of the WA has bolstered India’s efforts to gain access to sensitive goods and technologies from leading players in the West.
  • Now, Chairmanship is of significance for India due to the recent spurt in activity and investments in defence and space sector.
• Impetus to India’s Global Credibility: 
  • This will help establish India as a responsible stakeholder in the global non-proliferation architecture.

Way Ahead

• India should work in close cooperation with other members to further the Wassenaar Arrangement goal of contributing to regional and international security and stability.
• India’s focus needs to be on discussing and resolving global and regional issues.

Source: FE