Note: ERW = explosive remnants of war.

Contamination

The Republic of India is contaminated with mines, mainly as a result of large-scale mine-laying by government forces on and near the Line of Control (LoC) separating India and Pakistan during the 1971 war and the 2001–2002 stand-off betweenthe two states. Antipersonnel and antivehicle mines were laid on cultivated land and pasture, as well as around infrastructure and a number of villages.

Despite occasional official claims that all the mines laid were subsequently cleared, reports of contamination and casualties have persisted. A media report in 2013 cited a government statement that about 20km² of irrigated land was still mined in the Akhnoor sector of the LoC alone.[1] In 2016 and 2017, according to media accounts, the Indian army was manually clearing mines in the border districts of Jammu and Kashmi.[2]

In 2017–2018, a number of landmine incidents continued to be reported, primarily involving Indian army personnel, but also civilians. (See India’s Casualty profile for details.)

Security forces have also reported extensive use of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by Maoist insurgents in the northeastern states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand causing civilian and military casualties. In July 2018, it was reported that 15 antivehicle mines emplaced by Maoist rebels were neutralised by security forces in Garhwa district, Jharkhand state.[3] However, mine types are usually not specified and may include command-detonated explosive devices as well as mines (i.e. victim-activated explosive devices).[4]

Program Management

India has no civilian mine action programme. The Director-General of Military Operations decides on mine clearance after receiving assessment reports from the command headquarters of the respective districts where mine clearance is needed.

Land Release

There is no publicly available official information on land release in 2017. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for clearing mines placed by non-state armed groups.[5] In July 2017, for instance, according to a media report, the Indian army was manually clearing mines in the border districts of Jammu and Kashmir and was procuring more advanced demining equipment with a view to improving safety and decreasing the number of deminer casualties.[6] Media reports have indicated the police also play an active part in clearing mines and other explosive hazards on an ad hocbasis in states dealing with insurgency.[7]

India has not reported that any mine clearance has occurred in its Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) Amended Protocol II Article 13 transparency reports since 2006.[8] In August 2016, India stated that “mines used for military operations were laid within fenced and marked perimeters and were cleared after operations.”[9]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.