Mr. President,

My delegation is pleased to congratulate you on your assumption of the Presidency of this meeting and would like to convey its full support and cooperation. We are particularly pleased that a representative of Sri Lanka is holding this high post this year. We welcome the accession of Algeria and the State of Palestine to the CCW.

Mr. President,

2.    India attaches high importance to the CCW as one of the pillars of international humanitarian law within the UN framework. India is party to the CCW, all of its five protocols, as well as Amended Article I of the Convention. We are committed to taking all necessary steps to implement our obligations under the CCW and its Protocols, including Amended Protocol II and Protocol V.

3.    The Convention and its Annexed Protocols mitigate humanitarian concerns arising from the use of specific weapons and weapon systems while taking into account the military necessity of such weapons. The CCW remains the only forum of a universal character that brings together all the main users and producers of certain conventional weapons, thus ensuring that the instruments which emerge have greater prospect of making a meaningful impact on the ground. The continuing relevance of the CCW is also important in addressing challenges posed by the development or use of new weapons and their systems with respect to international law, in particular international humanitarian law.

4.    Effective implementation of the obligations contained in CCW by all High Contracting Parties is essential for the success of the Convention. HCPs bear the responsibility for the national implementation of obligations undertaken by them under the Convention and its protocols and for submitting their national compliance reports within the framework decided by the Third Review Conference. India has regularly submitted Annual Reports and support measures aimed at encouraging submission of reports by High Contracting Parties. The universality of the CCW and its Annexed Protocols remains an important goal. We support the Plan of Action on universalization and we appreciate efforts that have been undertaken in this regard, as well as the Sponsorship Programme on universalization to which India has made regular financial contributions.

5.    We welcome considerable progress in the implementation of Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War as well as Amended Protocol II. The discussion on IEDs under AP-II has been useful in addressing the threats posed by the use of IEDs by terrorists and non-state actors. We support the continuation of these discussions. The failure to adopt a protocol on Cluster Munitions at the Fourth Review Conference in 2011 was disappointing and a missed opportunity given that the CCW framework could have produced an outcome that included all the main producers and users of Cluster Munitions. It appears that the underlying position of various delegations on the issue of MOTAPMs has not changed.  We should keep under review implementation of Protocol III on Incendiary Weapons. 

6.    The CCW should continue considering ways and means for progressive development of the rules of international law applicable to advanced conventional weapons which have devastating and indiscriminate effects. In this context, we support continued discussions on LAWs in 2016, on the basis of an agreed mandate consistent with the objectives and purposes of the Convention. India participated in the Expert Level meeting in April this year under the chairmanship of Ambassador Michael Biontino of Germany. We feel that LAWs should be assessed not just from the view point of their compatibility with international law including international humanitarian law but also on their impact on international security if there is dissemination of such weapon systems. We would like the CCW process to emerge strengthened from these discussions, resulting in increased systemic controls on international armed conflicts embedded in international law in a manner that does not widen the technology gap amongst states or encourage the increased resort to military force in the expectation of lesser casualties or that use of lethal force can be shielded from the dictates of public conscience, one of the key principles of International Humanitarian Law.

Mr. President,

7.    The Fifth Review Conference next year is an important opportunity to review the implementation of the Convention as well as all its Protocols and agree on specific measures to strengthen the CCW framework. To this end we support a substantive preparatory process based on consultations among all High Contracting Parties as well as taking into account the contribution of the larger CCW community including relevant NGOs active in the field. 

Thank you.