Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons : Statement by Ambassador Pankaj Sharma during the meeting of Group of Experts to the CCW Amended Protocol II, 16 August 2021.

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Statement by Ambassador Pankaj Sharma during the meeting of Group of Experts to the CCW Amended Protocol II, 16 August 2021.

Mr. President

India congratulates you on the assumption of this important responsibility of chairing the Group of Experts Meeting on the Amended Protocol II to the CCW. We are confident that with your guidance and leadership, the meeting will achieve meaningful outcomes. We assure you of our delegation’s full support and cooperation in our work. We also wish to express our sincere appreciation to the Secretariat for the able support provided throughout the year to the High Contracting Parties in the effective implementation of this important Convention.

Mr. President,

2. India is fully committed to the CCW and is a signatory to all the five Protocols of the CCW including the Amended Protocol II. India believes that the Amended Protocol II strikes a fine balance between humanitarian concerns on landmines and legitimate defence requirements, particularly of States, with long borders, such as India. We have fulfilled all our obligations under the Amended Protocol II related, inter-alia, to the non-production of non-detectable mines as well as rendering all our anti-personnel mines detectable.

3. India attaches high priority to the full implementation of the Amended Protocol II and supports efforts towards its universalization. In this context, we appreciate the efforts by you and Ambassador Almojuela towards universalization. We have also been submitting our national annual reports in a timely manner and welcome the increase in the national reports submission as informed by you.

4. India supports the goal of a world free of the threat of landmines. We believe that the availability of militarily effective alternative technologies that can perform the defensive function of anti-personnel landmines and a change in conventional war-fighting philosophy, will facilitate the achievement of this goal.

Mr. President,

5. India has been a victim of the menace of the use of IEDs by non-state actors for the last many decades causing casualties of both, combatants and civilians. As a result, IED threat mitigation and victim assistance remain a high priority for India. India believes that the Amended Protocol II serves as an appropriate mechanism for addressing the issue of IEDs under the CCW framework. We might further benefit from discussions on IEDs with special focus on clearance in urban environment. India calls for enhanced cooperation among member States for exchange of expertise, best practices and information sharing on a voluntary basis.

6. Information regarding our obligations under the Amended Protocol II is regularly disseminated to our Armed Forces and our military courses of instruction cover the subject at appropriate levels. Our Centres of Excellence on Mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) remain well-informed about the latest developments with respect to IED design, development, proliferation and the global threat mitigation effort to minimize the IED contaminated areas. India attaches high priority to enhance public awareness as an integral part of our efforts to avoid civilian casualties. India is willing to share its best practices with other High Contracting Parties and the United Nations as well as work towards improving the quality of the IED database.

7. India's ratification of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities underscores the importance we attach to victim assistance. India welcomes efforts towards victim assistance and technical cooperation both under the UN mandate as well as on a bilateral basis.

Mr. President,

8. India is a leading contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations and has extended assistance to international demining and rehabilitation efforts. India has trained mine clearance teams which undertook mine clearance tasks in several countries including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Angola and Afghanistan in the recent past. India has set up a Centre of Excellence for Counter-IED training and, in the last five years, over 500 personnel from various countries have undergone training in India in mine clearance and explosives disposal. We remain committed to providing assistance and undertaking capacity-building to countries upon their request.

I thank you, Mr. President.