India’s Membership to the Missile Technology Control Regime: Analysing Causal Factors, Defence Self-Reliance, Defence Export Potential and Space Capabilities

This article attempts to understand the key developments leading to greater acceptance for India into the multilateral export control regime. It focuses on the factors that led to the acceptance of India into a regime institution—the Missile Technology Control Regime. This is significant because for decades India shared a strained relationship with the export control regime and was often viewed as a target or outsider. In the last two decades, consequent to the prolonged and synergistic efforts of a generation of Indian policy-makers, India has been better integrated and normalised into the regime. The article studies the role of self-reliance or atmanirbharta in Indian indigenous defence capabilities, success of jointly developed weapon systems like BrahMos, increasing the overall likelihood of defence exports for India. The article also looks into the confident strides India has made in the space programme in the recent decades. With a Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver and full membership of three out of four key institutions under the regime—the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group—India stands firm. These are gradual but notable changes with strategic implications for India and its goal of becoming a developed nation or Viksit Bharat by 2047.

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