Wassenaar Arrangement : India To Assume Chairmanship
External Affairs Ministry recently said that India will assume chairmanship of Wassenaar arrangement on 1 Jan 2023.
- The Wassenaar Arrangement has been established in order to contribute to regional and international security and stability, by promoting transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, thus preventing destabilising accumulations.
- The body came into being in 1996 to succeed the Cold War-era Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls.
- The name comes from Wassenaar, a suburb of The Hague, where the agreement to start such a multi-lateral cooperation was reached in 1995.
- Members: 42
- India joined the Wassenaar Arrangement in December 2017 as its 42nd participating state.
- The Arrangement is based on five crucial principles:
- It contributes to regional and international security and stability.
- It promotes transparency and greater responsibility in transfers of conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies.
- It complements and reinforces the export control regimes for weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.
- It is not directed against any state or group of states.
- It uses export controls as a means to combat terrorism.
