ABSTRACT
The legacy of India’s non-proliferation negotiations—and the question of rebuffing inequality—was again played out in India’s rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty 108. It is time for India to move from reactive, defensive diplomacy in the nuclear field to some creative, constructive diplomacy. India’s accession to the Missile Technological Control Regime (MTCR) in June 2016 was somewhat anticlimactic. The announcement was made days after the very public failure of India’s application to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) at its Seoul plenary. Considering India’s history as a somewhat preachy and disagreeable outlier in the nuclear regime, perhaps more time was needed to build the required momentum behind its application so as to make blocking it on extraneous grounds diplomatically more difficult. The consensus-driven decision-making that has proved a hurdle at MTCR and NSG plenaries has also placed other obstacles in India’s path to entry.
