Madam Chair,

It is a great pleasure to congratulate you on the assumption of Chair of the BWC meetings for 2013. I am confident that given your vast experience on BWC issues and your diplomatic skills, we would be able to make good progress on our agenda for this year. I would also like to convey our appreciation to Algeria for its excellent chairmanship of BWC meetings last year - the crucial first year of the new inter-sessional period.

India associates itself with the statement made by Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Madam Chair,

India attaches high importance to the BWC as the first disarmament treaty banning an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. India is committed to improving the effectiveness of this Convention and to the strengthening of its implementation. We participate actively in the meetings of the inter-sessional programme which have the mandate of promoting common understanding and effective action on issues identified by the Review Conference. We would be making interventions and presentations during the week on the various agenda items. At this stage I would  like to highlight a few issues of importance to our delegation.

Madam Chair,

India believes that the standing agenda item on review of S&T developments presents the best opportunity for States Parties to keep pace with the rapid developments in biological science and technology which might impact the implementation of the Convention. There were useful discussions under this agenda item last year but we believe that they could be more substantive with greater involvement of all States Parties. It is important that these discussions cover all ongoing high-risk dual use research. For example, it is important to review all ramifications of the recent advancements in scientific understanding related to H5N1, H7N1, H7N9, MERS-Cov as well as other BSL 3&4 pathogens. An important aspect of these discussions is how to balance risks and benefits of biological sciences and technology given their dual use nature. The measures taken to mitigate biological risks should be proportional  to the assessed risk and not hamper legitimate peaceful activities including international cooperation. India looks forward to continuing discussions on Codes of Conduct and education and awareness raising to explore ways to achieve further progress under the Convention.

India continues to attach high importance to the full and effective implementation of Article X of the Convention. We believe that the measures suggested by the Non-Aligned Movement in this regard should be given due consideration. We believe that strengthened implementation of Article III would ensure that the cooperation envisaged under Article X is not abused. At the same time it is important that factors like lack of technical capability in developing countries is not used to hamper international cooperation, such as by technology denial to developing countries. We look forward to the ISU’s report on the operation of the database established in pursuance of the decision of the Seventh Review Conference.

The standing agenda item on national implementation provides a ready platform for States Parties to share and learn from their national experiences in the implementation of the Convention. We have always emphasized the responsibility of States Parties to fully implement their obligations under the Convention and adopt requisite national measures to this end. India has a broad based regulatory framework to prevent the misuse of biological science and technology, including effective export controls matching the highest international standards. We also support assistance to States Parties for strengthening their national systems for bio-safety and bio-security.  

On the biennial item regarding CBMs we wish to underline that our effort should be to look at ways and means to increase the number of States Parties making CBMs submissions. While our delegation will be open to looking at constructive suggestions in this regard, we believe it is not productive to reopen the debates of the Review Conference regarding the role of the CBMs in the BWC regime. CBMs are an important transparency measures to enhance trust in implementation of the Convention. However, they are not an alternative to an effective multilaterally agreed mechanism for verification of compliance. Only such a mechanism can provide the assurance of observance of compliance obligations by States Parties and act as a deterrence against non-compliance.

Madam Chair,

Before I conclude, let me welcome your efforts for greater involvement of all States Parties in our meetings as well as on universalization of the Convention. We welcome the new entrants to our family this year – Cameroon, Nauru, Guyana and Malawi.

Thank you.