India recently hosted a technical briefing for over 20 Outreach Partner countries and Participating States at its Enhanced Technical Briefing (ETB) in Vienna. The Wassenaar Arrangement Enhanced Technical Briefing shared national implementation experiences and recent developments in Export Controls. This exercise has not been undertaken for five years.
India assumed the chairmanship of the plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement on January 1 for one year. The 42-member Wassenaar Arrangement is a voluntary export control regime that monitors transfers of conventional weapons and dual-use goods. India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017 as its 42nd participating state.
Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime that works to promote transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies through regular exchanges of information among its members. The plenary of the Wassenaar Arrangement is the main decision-making body that operates on consensus.
The ETB is a key initiative of India as the plenary chair of Wassenaar Arrangement and is aimed at sharing national implementation experiences and recent developments in Export Controls. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, praised the event in a tweet, saying, “Being undertaken after 5 years, the WA ETB shared national implementation experiences and recent developments in Export Controls.”
Overall, the event provides participating countries with the opportunity to learn about the implementation of export controls and its relevance in balancing the trade and security of conventional weapons and dual-use goods. India’s efforts as the plenary chair of the Wassenaar Arrangement highlights its commitment to promoting international cooperation and transparency in export controls.
