NEW DELHI, April 5: Several countries like the United States and Australia are working out a fresh treaty to ban anti-personnel landmines in a phased manner so that it is easily acceptable to countries which had not signed it in Ottawa last year.The US, Australia, China and India had not signed the treaty in December. Therefore, it was decided that another treaty be chalked out. In a seminar organised by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), Brig Patrick Blagden, a expert on landmines, said, "We have to basically get the idea across to the people in general about the banning of mines."Chris Smith, senior fellow at King's College, London, said the state has to act soon, since the problem lies in the fact that it is always the state which delays in taking action. One should agree on the stigma attached and the pain involved in it, he added."As far as India is concerned, though we want to ban landmines, we have to create public opinion in its favour," said Prof Christopher Raj ofJawaharlal Nehru University."India has never used landmines on its borders to keep the infiltrators away," added Gen Banerjee, Director IPCS. However, there are many in Andhra Pradesh which has a lot of Naxalite activities, he stated. While it is a low cost option, and easier to acquire, one has to ensure that it is not misused by terrorists, some of the experts opined.
