Mr. President,

It is a pleasure to see a representative of Bangladesh - a country with which we enjoy the friendliest of relations, holding the chair of this Meeting and we assure you of the full support of our delegation. We convey our appreciation to the Secretariat and the ISU for their support.

Mr. President,

2.   India remains fully committed to CCW and has ratified all five Protocols of the Convention as well as amended Article I. India held the Presidency of the CCW in 2002-03 when Protocol V was negotiated and was among the first 20 countries which ratified Protocol V that led to its entry into force. India was 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.   Timely implementation of obligations under Protocol V, including submission of national reports, is of high significance given that a number of High Contracting Parties are engaged in military operations or participate in peacekeeping missions. The measures taken by India to implement its obligations under Protocol V have been detailed in our national annual reports. India has institutionalized mechanisms for effective implementation of the Protocol.

4.   The revised Generic Electronic Template of Article 4 of the Protocol has been adopted by India. 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 issue of victim assistance remains one of continuing importance and we have noted that guidance on its reporting is to be included as part of National Reports.

5.   India attaches importance to cooperation and assistance and has provided such assistance upon request, including to Belarus and is prepared to consider additional requests in the future. Along with Vietnam, India is co-chairing an expert working group on humanitarian mine action under ADMM Plus and will be hosting a field training exercise in March 2016.

6.  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. India will making detailed comments on the issues included in the questionnaire of the Coordinator on management of munition sites during the course of this meeting

7.   Universalization should continue to be a priority along with timely and full implementation of the Protocol and we appreciate your efforts to take the number of states adhering to this Protocol to more than the current number of 87.  This would make a real difference on the ground in addressing the humanitarian impact of explosive remnants of war, which will be the main focus of discussion in 2016, as we look at the overall impact of the Protocol.   

Thank you.