Madame Chair,

My delegation congratulates you on your election as the President of the Eighth Conference of High Contracting Parties to Protocol V. I assure you of the full support of my delegation in ensuring the success of this meeting. Let me also congratulate other members of the bureau on their election.

Madame Chair,

2. India is fully committed to the CCW and the humanitarian principles enshrined in the Convention. We have ratified all five Protocols of the Convention as well as amended Article I. We attach high importance to Protocol V which is evident in our active involvement in both the negotiations and the implementation of this Protocol. We held the Presidency of the CCW in 2002-03 when Protocol V was negotiated and were among the first 20 countries which ratified Protocol V that led to its entry into force. We were privileged to be the President of the Third Conference of Protocol V in 2009. We have also coordinated the work on Article 4 Generic Electronic Template and National Reporting.

3. We believe that the implementation of the Protocol has made considerable progress, inter alia through the informal mechanism of the Meeting of Experts. Timely implementation of obligations under Protocol V, including submission of national reports, is of high significance. India has institutionalized mechanisms for effective implementation of the Protocol. All technical aspects concerning safety and protection of explosive ordnance against occurrence of ERW are ensured prior to indenting as per Generic Preventive Measures of Technical Annexure of Protocol V. The revised Generic Electronic Template of Article 4 of the Protocol has been adopted by India. The measures taken by India to implement its obligations under Protocol V have been detailed in our national annual reports, which India has submitted regularly and on time. The issue of victim assistance remains one of continuing importance.

4. We believe that universalization should continue to be a priority under Protocol V along with timely and fully implementation of obligations contained in the Protocol. This would make a real difference on the ground in addressing the humanitarian impact of explosive remnants of war. We are happy to note that the number of parties to the Protocol has risen to 86. We welcome Greece and Iraq and congratulate them on joining the Protocol.

5. We would like to convey our appreciation to all the Coordinators for leading the discussions on important implementation issues. We have studied the reports and recommendations presented by the Coordinators to this meeting and we look forward to discussions on them during the relevant sessions over the next two days.

6. Madam Chair, we have taken note of your letter dated 31 October 2014 drawing attention of High Contracting Parties to the issue of reviewing the implementation of obligations under Protocol V. While this issue is important, my delegation is guided by the decision of the Third Review Conference on a compliance mechanism applicable to the Convention as a whole or its annexed protocols. In our view, this issue is best addressed in the meeting of CCW as a whole and not limited to one of its Protocols, and any decision be taken by consensus at the next Review Conference.

Thank you.