In a significant announcement during President Barack Obama's visit, the US today said it will support India's full membership in the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and three other multilateral export control regimes.
Part of its series of changes to the export control system as it applies to India, the US will support India's full membership in the four multilateral export control regimes which will make it easier for India to get dual-use technology from member countries though it is subject to rules of individual nations.
"These are the NSG-- what is called Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)-- the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australian Group and the Wassanaar Arrangement," Mike Froman, deputy national security adviser for International Economic Affairs, said in a statement.
It will also provide India with a say in framing export control rules.
The indication of the US' move came in visiting President Barack Obama's speech to the business community where he spoke about his plans to reform export controls.
These are groups of multilateral, dual use export control clubs. The Australia Group deals with chemical and biological weapons, and Wassenaar deals with conventional weapons and dual use technology in it.
"Now, this membership will come in a phased manner. And we will consult with our regime members to encourage the evolution of a membership criteria of these regimes consistent with maintaining their core principles.
"So as the membership criteria of these four regimes evolves, we intend to support India's full membership in them. And at the same time, India will take steps to fully adopt the regime's export control requirements to reflect its prospective membership," Forman goes on to say recognising, "the nature of the strategic relationship we now have with India."
Three Indian entities -- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research (ISR0) and the Hyderabad-headquartered Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) -- will be taken off embargoed list.
"The second element of the export control reform package being announced is that we will remove India's defense and space-related entities from the US entity list. The entity list at one point had, I believe, 220 Indian entities on it. And there are only four left. And today we will be announcing a removal of three of them," the US statement said.
"And now removing these entities from the entity list will aloow for greater trade and cooperation in civilian space and defence, and enable our governments to focus on other outstanding barriers that hinder expanded bilateral high-tech trade. And this a very significant step forward," the statement said.
