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Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
Home    >   Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons   >  Statement by Ambassador (Dr.) Pankaj Sharma, Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament during the Meeting of Experts to the CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) in Geneva on August 23, 2019

Statement by Ambassador (Dr.) Pankaj Sharma, Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament during the Meeting of Experts to the CCW Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) in Geneva on August 23, 2019

Madam President,

India is very pleased to see you chairing this important meeting and would like to congratulate you on assuming the Presidency of this important aspect of our work.  I would also like to take this opportunity to assure you of full cooperation and support from India in steering your meeting to a successful outcome.

India is fully conscious of her onerous obligations as a responsible nation in the global comity of nations.  We are signatories to all five Protocols of the CCW, including Amended Protocol II.  We would like to inform the House with pride that India held the Presidency of the CCW in 2002-03 when Protocol V was negotiated and therefore it holds a special value for us. 

Fully conscious of the grave humanitarian concerns posed by explosive remnants of war, India was one of the first signatories to Protocol V with effect from 18 May 2005.

We have also coordinated the work on Article-4 Generic Electronic Template and National Reporting.  The revised Generic Electronic Template of Article-4 of the Protocol has been adopted and implemented by India.

We attach importance to cooperation and assistance in the implementation of ProtocolV and have provided assistance upon request to a number of countries, including to Belarus and would be prepared to consider additional requests in the future. 

 On the regional front, India co-chaired an Expert Working Group on Humanitarian Mine Action along with Vietnam under the aegis of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and hosted a Joint Field Training Exercise on Humanitarian Mine Action and UN Peacekeeping Operations in March 2016.  Since October 2018, India is conducting a yearlong series of artificial limb fitment camps in a number of different countries around the globe.  The first camp took place in Malawi in end October 2018.  India’s ratification of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities underscores the importance we attach to victim assistance.

We believe that universalization should continue to be a priority under Protocol V.  We are pleased to inform the Chair that India hosted an International Conference of the CCW in New Delhi in December 2017, in collaboration with the ICRC.  The Conference drew more than 83 participants from 24 States covering Asia, the Gulf Region and East Africa as well as experts from international organisations.  A range of legal, military and humanitarian perspectives were deliberated, including the impact of Explosive Remnants of War.

We are sanguine that this Conference would further contribute towards the efforts being made on Protocol V universalization and strengthening its implementation under your able leadership.

Thank you,Madam President.

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