Protesting India’s arrest of two Italian Marines suspected of shooting dead Indian fishermen, Italy scuttled India’s membership bid to join the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
Italy’s veto of India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which counts 34 member states and was set up in 1987, was not supported by any other member and defies US ambitions to get India admitted to the club.
Decisions to admit new members must be approved unanimously, which allowed Italy to block India’s entry, reported DefenseNews.
The diplomatic spat occurred in Rotterdam at the Oct. 5-9 plenary meeting of the group, whose members agree to work to stop the proliferation of missile and UAV technology capable of carrying a 500-kilogram payload for at least 300 kilometers.
“Italy was not ready to give its consensus to India’s application,” a source familiar with events at the meeting told the publication.
The source added that members were aware that Italy’s decision was linked to the arrest of the Marines. “It didn’t come up,” he said, “but it was the subtext, everyone knew.”
The two Italian Marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, were guarding an Italian cargo ship off the Indian coast in 2012 when an Indian fishing boat approached. The Marines claim they fired warning shots, which went unheeded, and they were later arrested and held by Indian authorities for shooting dead two of the fishermen on board.
The case has dragged on, with the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea becoming involved this year, while Italian politicians have lambasted the Italian government for being unable to free them.
India formally submitted an application in June with active support from member nations the US and France. US President Obama first made his support known for India’s entry during his visit to the country in 2010.
The MTCR was set up in April 1987 by seven countries — Britain Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — to check proliferation of ballistic missiles with over 300km range and 500kg of bomb payload. In 1992, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that can deliver Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) were included, and later, even software for such delivery systems was covered
Italy’s veto of India’s entry follows the drawn-out entanglement between the two countries over allegations of corruption surrounding the sale of 12 Italian AW101 helicopters to India in 2010 for €560 million (US $639.2 million).