The Missile Technology Control Regime which grew out of arrangements which entered into the East-West conventional arms talks of the 1970s. It became a formal but non-treaty arrangement in 1987 and has more than 20 members.
Its purpose is to control the technology and export of items that could be used to produce a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. However, Missile Technology Control Regime’s guidelines are applicable to missiles with ranges longer 300 km and payload capacity greater than 500kg. The guidelines incorporate a list of items to be controlled but the national export decisions are not subject to group review or sanctions.
The MTCR was originally formulated by the G-7 nations for restricting transfer of critical technology classified as category-I and category-II. The category-I includes great sensitive and category-II least sensitive. The cryogenic engine technology falls under category-I of the MTCR list of controlled technologies. India and Russia are neither members nor adherents of the MTCR.