India and the International Arms Trade Treaty: Time To Rethink

The past few weeks have seen a somewhat contradictory message emerging from New Delhi on the issue of arms trafficking. On the one hand, home secretary G K Pillai has stated Indian concerns about Maoists being supplied arms from China, albeit by private Chinese players rather than by Beijing. On the other, when the UN committee on disarmament and peace voted on a resolution last month calling for talks on a treaty to regulate the global conventional arms trade, India abstained. The final tally was 153 for, 1 against, 19 abstaining; India now finds itself not just in the minority, but in the company of countries like Pakistan and China .

This is a dicey stance, particularly when Pillai himself followed up his concerns about illegal arms transfers from China by pointing out that 80 per cent of small arms are manufactured by the United States , China , Pakistan and Iran ; and that most of these arms are harming the developing world. Ethical issues aside and there are a host of those hard-headed self-interest dictates that New Delhi reconsider its stance. Doubtless, it has valid concerns given India ‘s reliance on defence imports, but the way to protect its interests is by having a seat at the table, not by opting out of the entire process.

If there are sticking points in the treaty and doubtless there will be given how proposed conditions about human rights violations and monitoring could be open to interpretations in a problematic manner there is ample time to work on them given that the final round of talks is slated only for 2012. Crucially, there are likely to be powerful allies as well; the issue has been a contentious one with the US voting against it in 2006 before signing on this year. And that is the crux of the matter. Russia may have abstained as well but the days when it was India ‘s sole arms supplier are past. New Delhi ‘s defence trade with the US and EU backers of the treaty, all is at the higher end of the military equipment spectrum and largely outside the potential rubric of the treaty. Thus, it has little to lose by signing on. But if it does not, having the unsigned treaty’s ghost at the table could potentially complicate future deals.

Handled correctly, New Delhi has little to lose. And by joining the mainstream on this issue, not only will it position itself as a responsible stakeholder, it will have more leverage to address precisely the sort of concerns Pillai voiced.

This Editorial was published on 13 November 2009 in “The Times of India”. Please click HERE

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