India has joined the 42-member Australia Group, an elite export control regime against spread of chemical and biological weapons.
India is first South Asian nation to become its full-time member of Australia Group. China is not a member of the Australia Group.
India's formal induction as the 43rd member is seen as a recognition of New Delhi's record in the field of non-proliferation and a major foreign policy gain.
With this, India is now part of three of the four key export control groups in world dealing with non-proliferation which includes 35-member MTCR and 42 member Wassenaar Arrangement.
The inclusion will help to raise India’s stature in the field of non-proliferation, though it is not signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and help in acquiring critical technologies.
Australia Group
It is multilateral export control regime (MECR) and informal group which was established in 1985.
It works to counter spread of materials, equipment and technologies that could contribute to development or acquisition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW) by states or terrorist groups through harmonisation of export controls.
Now it has 43 members. China, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea are not its members.