Taken Question Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC September 11, 2008 Question Taken at September 10, 2008 Daily Press Briefing
India’s Adherence to the NSG and MTCR Guidelines
Question: What can we say about India’s adherence to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines?
Answer: In a statement issued on September 5, 2008, India’s Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee reinforced India’s July 2005 Joint Statement commitments, underscoring that “India has taken the necessary steps to secure nuclear materials and technology through comprehensive export control legislation and through harmonization and committing to adhere to MTCR and NSG guidelines.”
We also understand that India has sent letters to the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General and to the MTCR Point of Contact in Paris stating that it has adhered to the NSG and MTCR. We welcome these steps.
India committed under the July 18, 2005 Joint Statement, which launched the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, to harmonize its export controls with, and unilaterally adhere to the NSG and MTCR guidelines. The President has notified Congress, as required under the Hyde Actof 2006, that India has harmonized and has adhered “in accordance with the procedures of those regimes for unilateral adherence.”
2008/713
Released on September 11, 2008
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