Statement by Group Captain VS Srihari, Director, Ministry of Defence at the OEWG on Conventional Ammunition, New York, 6 June 2023

Thank you Chair. With regard to the proposal in para 38; in the current draft,the paragraph mentions that the “Secretariat is tasked to develop a template to guide voluntary national reporting to be considered by States at the 2025Preparatory Meeting”. It is our considered view that we should take a consultative approach in arriving atthe formulation of the template and that it should be a States’ driven process.Based on your introduction to this section just now, we are also confident that the intent of the paragraph is to do so. We would only suggest that a reference to the same may be incorporated clearly in the language of the paragraph so as to assuage any misunderstanding in that regard.

We thank you.