The 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war made it evident that some non-state actors have also
acquired missile capability but this development largely went unnoticed.
During the ongoing civil war in Syria, the Syrian military has launched ballistic missile strikes on rebel-controlled areas. This shows the increasing role of ballistic missiles in civil conflicts but no concrete steps by the international community have been taken to prevent the proliferation of missiles and related technologies in the region. In South Asia, another highly volatile region, India and Pakistan maintain relatively large stockpiles of ballistic missiles. More alarmingly, Indias military establishment has also been working on its ballistic missile defence (BMD) programme, triggering fresh tensions in the region. In India, over the past decade, support for ballistic missile defence (BMD) has broadened because the public is unaware of new security threats to regional peace due to Indias aggressive approach. Even many well-known Indian journalists have no idea that the success rate of a deployed BMD system is very low. The Indian BMD does not even provide reliable defence against Pakistani stealth cruise missiles like the Hatf-VII and would surely be unable to provide Indias two cities New Delhi and Mumbai a shield against Chinese Dongfeng-41 missile with multiple subwarheads with separate trajectories. The unfortunate fact is that India, Iran, North Korea and some other countries have successfully advanced their missile programmes with foreign assistance. Many countries have even remained involved in selling sensitive missile technology to other members. Yet, because of their voluntary nature, the missile technology control regimes cannot mandate any forceful action against member countries violating its guidelines. Curbing the spread of missile technology is particularly difficult because of lack of recognition of the threat it poses. The MTCR urgently needs to address all these concerns related to WMD delivery systems if it wants to avoid the fate of becoming totally incapable of mitigating the dangers associated with the global nuclear trade. Email: rizwanasghar5@unm.edu