NEW DELHI, August 1: With the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the submission of India's stockpile, the country has joined the world of intrusive international inspections. As mandatory under the CWC, inspection of India's chemical weapons facilities has begun and is currently underway at a production site.A team of 10 inspectors has initiated the process of verifying the list of chemical weapons production sites as submitted by India to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The inspection team, selected by the Technical Secretariat of the OPCW and comprising nationals only of those countries party to the CWC, is at Ojhar, near Nashik at the moment.As per the CWC guidelines, during the entire course of their inspection, they are to be accompanied by officials deputed by India and a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official, according to sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).Regarded as preliminary inspections, wherein only the production sites are under scrutiny, this is the second such visit. The first inspection team, comprising four inspectors, came in July and visited the DRDO laboratory at Gwalior.As per regulations governing the CWC, the Director General of the Technical Secretariat has to inform the inspected country regarding the composition of an inspection team well in advance of their arrival. This is to ensure that the inspected country does not have objections to any member of the team. India is not known to have expressed an aversion to the teams thus far, said MoD officials.India has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring their safety, while looking after all administrative arrangements including communications with the OPCW headquarters at The Hague, Netherlands. And again as per CWC regulations, the inspection team enjoys full inviolability under Article 29, of the Vienna Convention Diplomatic Relations which also covers their papers, correspondence and any records made during the inspection.
