Today most of the trade between different countries is guided and regulated by one or the other international law or treaty. However, the global arms trade has continued to thrive without a comprehensive law or treaty governing it. Though there are international mechanisms in place that impact arms trade, there has never been a legally binding universal mechanism that could regulate the global arms trade. As Jeff Abramson, Director of the Control Arms Coalition puts it “It is an absurd and deadly reality that there are currently global rules governing the trade of fruit and dinosaur bones, but not ones for the trade of guns and tanks”.

After years of discussions on the need for a treaty to regulate the sale and purchase of arms, the international community has now arrived at actual negotiations for an Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Though, the need for such an international mechanism has been largely recognised, there are different positions taken by countries on the preferred actual content of the treaty. After holding four preparatory committee (PrepCom) meetings to clear procedural issues and discussions within Open-Ended Working Groups and Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), the negotiations on the content of the ATT will take place in July 2012 when a diplomatic conference will be held as per the General Assembly Resolution 64/48 in 2009. As per the resolution the conference will aim “to elaborate a legally binding instrument on the highest possible common international standards for the transfer of conventional arms.”

In this context, this paper outlines the evolution of the ATT by exploring the major historical developments leading up to the negotiations in the United Nations. The paper assesses the Indian position on the ATT and its content by studying the statements made by the government of India in the UN during the various occasions where the ATT was discussed and debated.