Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Disarmament Database

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Country Profile: India

BASIC FACTS

India is a Member Country of the NAM Movement since 1961 and was the Summit Chair in 1983

The republic of India located in Southern Asia, bordering between Burma and Pakistan. The country is rich in ancient history and culture as one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. In 1947, India’s independence from the British rules was led by years of nonviolent resistance by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The country’s dispute with its neighbor, Pakistan, marks one of the most prominent prolonged conflicts in the world. India held its first nuclear weapons tests in 1998.  

Capital: New Delhi 

Nuclear energy continues to grow every year for India, as of March 2024, the country currently has twenty-three operatable reactors and seven reactors under construction, largely an indigenous nuclear power program. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), establish in 1954, is the governmental department which is responsible for the entire spectrum of activities related to nuclear science and technology from research and development to safeguards. The government recently is seeking billions of dollars-worth of private nuclear power investment. This is the first time New Delhi is pursuing private investment in nuclear power, showing how the government is committing to grow the nuclear energy industry. It is worth noting that despite its nuclear weapons status, India is not part of the NPT. For decades, this was a problem concerning trade in nuclear plants and materials. 

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

  • IAEA Membership (1957)

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) (1974) 

  • CPPNM 2005 Amendment (2007) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC) (1996) 

  • Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol) (1930) 

  • International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) (2006) 

  • Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (Partial Test Ban Treaty) (1963)  

  • Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) (1984) 

  • Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty ) (1982) 

 

AGREEMENTS (In Force): 

  • Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the IAEA (1961) 

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2002) 

  • Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2016) 

  • Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (1988) 

  • Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (1988) 

  • Convention on Nuclear Safety (2005) 

  • Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (2016) 

  • Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology, 2017 (2017) 

  • Agreement between the IAEA, the Government of Canada and the Government of India relating to Safeguards Provisions (1971) 

  • Application of safeguards in connection with the supply of heavy water from the USSR (1977) 

  • Agreement between the IAEA and the Government of India for the application of safeguards in connection with the supply of a nuclear power station from the USSR (1988) 

  • Agreement between the Government of India and the IAEA for the application of safeguards in connection with the supply of nuclear material from France (1989) 

  • Agreement on the application of safeguards to all nuclear material subject to safeguards under INFCIRC/154 Part I and agreement contained in exchange of letters of 1 Oct. and 1 Dec. 1993 - Exchange of letters of 16 Feb. 1994 and attachment (1994) 

  • Agreement between the Government of India and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities (2009) 

  • Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the Government of India and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities (2014) 


REGIONAL GROUPS

  • Member of the Conference on Disarmament
  • Member of the G-21
  • Member of the G-77
  • Member of the Asia-Pacific Group

 

RECENT REPRESENTATION IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

  • Member of the Australia Group since 2018
  • Member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) since 2016
  • Member of the Wassenar Arrangement
  • Member of the 1540 Committee in 2011 and 2012
  • Member of the UN Security Council in 2011 and 2012
  • Chair of the 1983 NAM Summit

 

LINKS

Ministry of External Affairs

Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations

Indian Department of Atomic Energy

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Membership in International Organizations Related to Disarmament

Country Profile (Office of Legal Affairs): India (iaea.org)