Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a voluntary and
informal association of countries formed with the objective of restricting the
proliferation of missiles, rocket systems, unmanned
air vehicles, and related technology for those systems which are capable of
carrying a 500 kilogram payload to least 300 kilometres, as well as systems
intended for the delivery of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It operates by
following of a set of common export guidelines for a common integral list of controlled
items.
The group was originally established in 1987 by seven countries
i.e. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United
States. Since then the number of members of the group has increased to 35 with
India being the latest addition in June 2016. The present members are Argentina, Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
Korea, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America.
A more broad based
organisation for restricting the proliferation of ballistic missiles is “International Code of Conduct against
Ballistic Missile Proliferation” which came into existence in November,
2002. It is also known as “Hague Code of
Conduct” and has 138 signatories including India which became a signatory
to the Hague Code of Conduct in June 2016.
India’s membership of
MTCR will be helpful in getting high level technology which will be of great
use in its space programme. It will also allow India to export some of the
missiles. There has been news that India wants to export Brahmos missile. The
present range of Brahmos missile is 290 Kilometers which is within the MTCR cap
of 300 Kilometers. However, with the MTCR membership, India can increase the
range if the need arises.