Mr. President,

The Indian delegation congratulates you on chairing this meeting and assures you of our full support and cooperation. 

2.   India attaches importance to the full implementation of Amended Protocol II and has been up to date in submission of national reports. We have fulfilled our obligations under the Protocol related inter alia to non-production of non-detectable mines as well as rendering all our anti-personnel mines detectable. India is observing a moratorium on the export and transfer of landmines. Information regarding our obligations under Amended Protocol II is being regularly disseminated to our Armed Forces. Mines that have been used for defensive military operations are laid within fenced perimeters and marked, in accordance with the requirements specified in Amended Protocol II. Post operations, these mines have been cleared by trained troops.

3.   Amended Protocol II strikes a balance between humanitarian concerns on landmines and legitimate defence requirements, particularly of States with long borders. We support the vision of a world free of the threat of landmines and believe that the availability of militarily effective alternative technologies that can perform cost effectively the defensive function of anti-personnel landmines will facilitate the achievement of this goal. An integral part of efforts to avoid civilian casualties is to enhance public awareness on landmines. Further, mine victims are assisted in rehabilitation inter alia, by providing financial compensation, employment and health assistance. India's ratification of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities underscores the importance we attach to victim assistance. We would also like to stress the importance of development and sharing of technology to protect civilians against the indiscriminate use of mines as well as for mine clearance.

4.   India has extended assistance to international demining and rehabilitation efforts including as part of UN peacekeeping operations to which India is a leading contributor. Indian mine clearance professionals have contributed to both clearance and clearance training in several countries including in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Angola, Benin and Afghanistan. We have also provided support for mine clearance in the erstwhile conflict affected areas in Sri Lanka and in this context welcome the progress being made. In the last five years, over 500 personnel from various countries have undergone training in India in mine clearance and explosives disposal.

Mr. President,

5.   Amended Protocol - II serves as an appropriate framework for addressing the issue of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) which is today the weapon of choice for terrorists and NSAs. We commend the initiative taken by Afghanistan to table a new resolution on IEDS, which was adopted by the First Committee by consensus last week. We appreciate the efforts of the Coordinators on IEDs, France and Moldova, in taking forward our discussions on the issue.  

6.   We support continuing the useful work on IEDs under the CCW framework with focus on addressing the threat of IEDs, while underlining that the responsibility for enforcing rule of law, including respect for international law lies with the legitimate government authority of that State Party. We believe that while there is scope for enhancing cooperation among States in exchange of expertise and information sharing on countermeasures, this should be done on a voluntary basis keeping in mind confidentiality of sensitive information.

7.   Subject to these conditions, there is scope for exchange of experiences in dealing with the threat of IEDs. India's Centre of Excellence for training on IEDs has organized several training courses in which a number of service personnel from foreign countries have participated alongside Indian participants. Delegations from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Vietnam visited the Centre of Excellence during the past two years. Further, personnel from Bhutan, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Tanzania were trained in counter-IED and explosive disposal. Our experts have also made regular contributions to the discussions on IEDs here under the CCW framework.

Mr. President,

8.   India supports efforts for universalization of the AP II and thanks you  for your efforts in this regard. We would be open to further work on IEDs during the course of 2016.