Analysis: India rejects ban on landmines

NEW DELHI, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- A U.N.-backed world body campaigning against the use of landmines has urged the Indian government to sign a global treaty to ban the weapons.

"An estimated 4 (million) to 5 million anti-personnel mines exist in India, which is the sixth-largest stockpile in the world. Despite India banning export of landmines, the footprints of its weapons have been found in countries like Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Tanzania and Sudan," said the Landmine Monitor Report 2007 released by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in New Delhi.

"While the government is fully sensitized to humanitarian aspects of the landmine problem, there is a compelling need to address the issue comprehensively. Landmines do not ensure security of any nation; they only spawn human misery," said retired Ambassador Satnam Jit Singh, diplomatic adviser to the organization.

"If over 80 percent members of the international community can ensure security of their borders without using anti-personnel mines, surely India too can. There is no need to have another weapon system to replace landmines. What is needed is a change in mindset and a change in defense doctrine," Singh said while releasing the report.

The report, which is part of the global campaign to ban landmines, also said there was no progress on a proposal for a joint moratorium by India and Pakistan, which jointly produce 11 million landmines, on the use of anti-personnel mines on their common border. The ban had been discussed as part of their confidence-building measures.

India says there is no minefield or mined areas in any part of the country's interiors, but the report said there were mined areas in the militancy-hit Kashmir Valley and the country northeast.

"More than 6,000 families and some 3,500 acres of agriculture land alone in Chamb area in Jammu region are mine-affected," said Tara Chand, speaker of the assembly of Jammu & Kashmir state.

Non-state armed groups in central, southern, northern and northeastern regions have frequently used anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices to target convoys of soldiers.

The Landmines Report said India remained largely contaminated with mines because of mine-laying by military and security forces. After the military standoff with Pakistan, India claimed in February 2005 that it had recovered 99 percent of the mines laid on and near the borders. Landmine Monitor researchers, however, reported that some sections of the Line of Control remain heavily mined.

The government said it has not used any landmines last year. Many of the landmines remain in Indian soil from past conflicts. In this past year alone, there have been an estimated 107 casualties of landmines and other explosive remnants of war in the country. India has not yet joined the international treaty on banning landmines. The government said a senior official recently attended the eighth Meeting of States Parties in Amman, Jordan, as an observer, but reiterated India's intention not to sign the treaty in the near future.

India, along with Russia, China and Pakistan, remains one of the largest producers of landmines, even if not an active user. Globally, 13 countries produce anti-personnel mines, many of which are taking measures to reduce their mine production. With the sixth-largest stockpile in the world, India is far from becoming a mine-free nation.

"The IEDs provide a cheap and easy alternative to traditional landmines and small arms. They have become more and more common in many of the insurgency-afflicted regions of the country," said Iftikhar Geelani, a security expert.

"Indian civil society and the government cannot afford to remain ignorant of the huge humanitarian and development impact of a rising landmines and IED emergency, which is emerging in the country. The Indian government has a ... responsibility to undertake steps and to join the MBT before further lives are lost," said Binalakshmi Nepram, secretary general of the control arms foundation of India and a researcher for Landmine Monitor Report 2007.

"The recurring landmine and IED blasts is a preventable issue that continues to take Indian lives and one that Indian government must address immediately," said Ajai Sahani, executive director of the Institute of Conflict Management, a non-government think tank.

In the last two years there was an increase in intensity of armed conflict by Maoist rebels and a few other smaller groups. There was a marked increase in the use of powerful, command-detonated IEDs in attacks on security personnel. These were frequently described as landmines in media reports on the conflict. The Landmine Monitor found that very few incidents involved victim-activated explosive devices, and there were no known cases of the use of factory-made anti-personnel landmines.

"We have been participating in the meeting of the Ottawa Convention as an observer since we share the humanitarian concerns, even though we are not a party to it and have certain reservations on it," the Indian government told the Landmine Monitor in a letter. "Our legitimate security concerns necessitate the use of anti-personnel mines. India remains committed to the objective of eventual elimination of anti-personnel mines through a non-discriminatory, universal and global ban on APLs that addresses the legitimate defense requirements of the states."