When the frontier opens up in the kitchen

Families lose their sole bread-winners who accidentally step on a landmine. Landmines impede the return of refugees. Productive land remains inaccessible to cultivation for years. In countries like Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Cambodia, landmines have engendered a major socio-economic problem.

Moved by the plight of landmine victims, civil society resolved a decade ago that the only solution to this menace was to work towards a ‘Mine Free World’. Thus was born a global movement for an outright ban on anti-personnel mines. A Mine Ban Convention was concluded in Ottawa in December 1997. The ‘International Campaign to Ban Landmines’, the NGO that spearheaded the crusade, received the Noble Peace Prize for 1997.

The goal of a Mine Free World seems to be well within reach. Till now, as many as 143 countries have joined the Ottawa Convention; 9 more have signed, but are awaiting ratification. Almost the entire continents of Europe, Africa, Latin America and nearly half of the Asian countries are its members. Many of them have a history of adversarial relations with their neighbours. Only 40 countries (less than a quarter of the total UN membership) are still not on board. India is one of them, as are China and Pakistan.

The standard, but questionable, argument offered by countries reluctant to join the Convention is that they view anti-personnel mines essential to their defence preparedness. No doubt, anti-personnel mines have military utility. Their benefits, however, are not so preponderant as to significantly influence the outcome of a war. In 1996, a group of military experts, commissioned by the International Red Cross, concluded that short-term military benefits of anti-personnel mines are far outweighed by the long-term negative humanitarian consequences.

The Indian Army seeks to ensure that its mine-fields are well-marked and are cleared as soon as the security situation so permits. The ground reality, however, turns out to be different. According to a survey concluded in March this year, the number of civilian casualties caused by landmines in Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu, following the 2002 military build-up, adds up to an alarming 779.

Planting landmines is easy; locating and defusing them is a tedious and dangerous business. There is no guarantee that each and every mine can be located. Meanwhile, displaced villagerS can return to their homes and fields only at their peril. The use of anti-personnel mines is also against international humanitarian law. Weapons used during war should not be ‘‘inherently indiscriminate’’ between civilians and combatants. Also, they should not cause ‘‘superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering’’. Anti-personnel mines fail on both counts.

India has so far completely disassociated itself from the convention. Most non-members attend the convention meetings as observers. By turning its back on the ongoing process, India has bracketed itself with a handful of countries like Myanmar and Uzbekistan, conveying the impression that we are not bothered about the plight of innocent mine victims, which is not true.

There are several aspects of the convention like mine risk education, victim assistance and socio-economic rehabilitation that are completely in consonance with India’s policy and practices. Also, India has the capacity to assist other mine-contaminated countries in the demining operations.

The role of anti-personnel mines in the security of the country needs to be reappraised. Defence doctrines keep changing. Combat techniques do not remain the same. The electric fencing on the border with Pakistan is almost complete. The role of hi-tech surveillance is on the increase. There is no need for a new weapon system to replace anti-personnel mines. What is needed is a change in mindset and a change in defence doctrine. The Armed Forces of all countries need to get accustomed to defending their lands without anti-personnel mines. The use of non-explosive obstacles, trip flares and command-activated, instead of victim-activated, weapons can achieve the same purpose to a large extent.

Ideally, India should give a lead to other non-member countries in the region by announcing a ban on anti-personnel mines. However, if India must exercise caution. It can adopt a calibrated approach. It can start with a joint moratorium, as a CBM, with Pakistan. It can also explore the possibility of bilateral agreements with its neighbours for non-use of anti-personnel mines. Greek and Turkey did this without compromising their national security.

The upcoming summit on a ‘Mine Free World’, scheduled for November 29 at Nairobi, is an excellent occasion for India to signal a positive shift in its landmine policy.

The writer, who recently retired as India’s Ambassador to Egypt, is a landmine victim of the 1965 India-Pakistan war