UPSC CSE Prelims
Question 91
Recently, the USA decided to support India's membership in multi-lateral export control regimes called the "Australia Group" and the "Wassenaar Arrangement". What is the difference between them ?
- The Australia Group is an informal arrangement which aims to allow exporting countries to minimize the risk of assisting chemical and biological weapons proliferation, whereas the Wassenaar Arrangement is a formal group under the OECD holding identical objectives.
- The Australia Group comprises predominantly of Asian, African and North American countries, whereas the member countries of Wassenaar Arrangement are predominantly from the European Union and American continents.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
View correct answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Correct Option: D
Explanation: The Australia Group is an export-control coordination forum focused on chemical and biological proliferation; Wassenaar addresses conventional arms and dual-use goods and is not an OECD subgroup.
Statement / Item-wise Analysis:
1: Incorrect - Incorrect: Wassenaar is voluntary and not an OECD organisation with identical chemical/biological objectives.
2: Incorrect - Incorrect: the stated geographical membership split is inaccurate; both are multiregional export-control arrangements.
Option-wise Analysis:
A: Incorrect - includes unsupported item 1.
B: Incorrect - includes unsupported item 2.
C: Incorrect - includes unsupported items 1, 2.
D: Correct - correctly excludes all the listed statements.