Opinion: Wassenaar Arrangement opens gate for India to enter into NSG

India has been admitted as the 42nd member to the Wassenaar Arrangement, a development that will be a big boost for India's case for entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and will further cement its global standing as a responsible nuclear power. But most importantly, after MTCR, India's entry into the Wassenaar Arrangement is also an important boost to the credibility of such institutions which are facing a de-legitimacy given the growing clamour among developing nations to become stakeholders in vital issue areas, and a potential de-basing by the China-led institutions that are sprouting on the back of its unprecedented pace of growth.

The Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral forum established to contribute to regional and international stability and security. As an export control regime for conventional weapons and dual-use goods and technologies, the Wassenaar Arrangement was established in 1995, replacing the Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM) which was set up during the cold war. The COCOM, with 17 member countries, was established with the broader objective of controlling the transfer of technology from the developed to the developing countries, and a specific aim of preventing further advancements in the military competencies of the Soviet Union.

The stated objectives of the Wassenaar have expanded beyond the conventional domain, extending its reach to the world of cybersecurity, biological weapons, and radioactive materials, among others.

As the cold war ended, the COCOM was transformed into the Wassenaar Arrangement, with a broader mandate to control the export of conventional weapons, dual-use and other sensitive technologies. With time, however, the stated objectives of the Wassenaar have expanded beyond the conventional domain, extending its reach to the world of cybersecurity, biological weapons, and radioactive materials, among others. This expansion in its reach and scope, with the inclusion of newer domains under its control lists- domains where the developing nations especially hold a valuable stake- makes it necessary that the arrangement is made more inclusive, open, transparent and democratic.

Why India?

The Wassenaar arrangement essentially restricts the transfer of crucial technologies to emerging markets in the developing nations. With extended controls over materials and technologies vital for the security of digital infrastructure, including those relating to telecom, IT & computers, aviation, the Wassenaar arrangement has worked to deny the developing countries an access to knowledge sharing and transfer of related technologies. Besides, with the inclusion of vague definitions pertaining to “intrusion software”, “protective countermeasures”, “monitoring tools”, among others in the 2013 amendment, the arrangement faced serious criticism from developing nations who argued against the double standards used by the member nations.

India's membership to the elite 41-member body will, however, work to restore its credibility as an adaptive regime, subsequently strengthening its legitimacy in the eyes of the stakeholders.

The additional restrictions included in the 2013 amendment were justified by member countries on grounds of concerns over the use of intrusion software for mass surveillance of citizens by governments in the developing nations. All this, while reports on mass surveillance kept pouring from Wassenaar member countries, themselves. The hegemony exercised by developed countries over the inclusion of items under the control list and their significant political and strategic consequences also threatened to render the arrangement obsolete.

India's membership to the elite 41-member body will, however, work to restore its credibility as an adaptive regime, subsequently strengthening its legitimacy in the eyes of the stakeholders. India's rapid transformation into a digital economy, its emphasis on the use aadhaar biometrics, e-payments and e-markets, in addition to its growing stakes in the global supply chains of technologies and goods, both as a producer and a consumer, make its inclusion in such arrangements, absolutely critical.

India's strong record on non-proliferation and its history of championing the concerns of the developing countries at multilateral platforms will also add a credible face to an otherwise archaic regime. India's membership to such organisations also becomes vital in the face of the global regulatory leadership shit. With its unprecedented rise in the last decade and increasing emphasis on bringing about a normative change in International Relations, China has been carving out new norms and erecting new institutions, to by-pass the old order and create a new, China-led world order.

BRI is not just a mere infrastructure and connectivity project but has a deep normative agenda which envisages China at the centre of the wheel of globalisation with developing and least developing countries at its spokes.

To this end, and because of historic discriminations, the developing nations have been found more than willing to support China in its endeavour. The threat to global institutions like the World Bank, and the IMF, from China, led ADB and AIIB, is legitimate. The Chinese dream, also popularly known as the BRI, is not just a mere infrastructure and connectivity project, but has a deep normative agenda which envisages China at the centre of the wheel of globalisation with developing and least developing countries at its spokes.

It is also important to remember that while the older institutions were based on a more democratic order led by the US, the China-led institutions will be centred around an authoritarian regime, with complementary norms and regulations. It is here, that India can stonewall the Chinese attempt to superannuate the older institutions. India's membership to such institutions and its insistence on reforms, transparency, openness and democracy will restore their acceptability. As a champion of democratic values, India's presence will also do well to project a more robust alternative to China's imagined arrangements.

The world has long accepted India as an important stakeholder in regional and International peace and security. Its membership to forums deliberating on such issue areas, therefore, becomes more than necessary in times like these.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).