Summary

Non-signatory India has acknowledged the humanitarian concerns raised by cluster munitions, but has not taken any steps to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions. India has never participated in a meeting of the convention, even as an observer. It abstained from voting on a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.

India produces, exports, imports, and stockpiles cluster munitions, but is not known to have used them.

Policy

The Republic of India has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

India has never commented on its position on acceding to the convention. India has acknowledged humanitarian concerns over the “irresponsible use” of cluster munitions, but regards them as “legitimate” weapons if used in accordance with international humanitarian law.[1]

India did not participate in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[2]

India has never participated in a meeting of the convention, even as an observer. India was invited to, but did not attend, the convention’s Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021.

In December 2021, India abstained from the vote on a key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[3] India has never explained why it has abstained from the vote on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since it was first introduced in 2015.

India is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

India is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and has expressed regret at the failure in 2011 to adopt a CCW protocol on cluster munitions.[4] The end of CCW negotiations on cluster munitions leaves the Convention on Cluster Munitions as the sole international instrument dedicated to ending the suffering caused by these weapons.

Production

India has produced cluster munitions delivered by ground-launched artillery projectiles, rockets, and missiles. India is not known to have developed or produced air-dropped cluster munitions.

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), within India’s Ministry of Defense, has produced a cargo rocket containing dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) submunitions for the 214mm Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launcher system.[5] In 2015, submunition warheads for the Pinaka system were tested at a firing range in Pokhran, Rajasthan.[6] Other sources claim that warheads containing submunitions were developed for the Agni, Dhanush, and Prithvi ballistic missile systems.[7]

Under an August 2012 agreement with Russian defense manufacturers Rosoboronexport and Splav, the Indian Ministry of Defense manufactured Smerch rockets including the 300mm 9M55K cluster munition rocket.[8]

In the past, the state-owned India Ordnance Factories advertised their capacity to produce for export 130mm and 155mm artillery projectiles containing DPICM submunitions equipped with a self-destruct feature.[9] Purchase order records retrieved in 2019 indicate that the Ordnance Factory in Maharashtra state has provided components for 130mm “Cargo Shells.”[10]

Transfers

Indian companies producing cluster munitions have promoted their products at various defense industry arms fairs abroad. In June 2022, Munitions India Ltd. displayed the cluster munition variant of the Pinaka missile system at the Eurosatory arms fair, in violation of Eurosatory rules.[11] Previously, a private Indian arms manufacturer listed components for cluster munitions in a sales catalog displayed at a 2017 International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).[12] The same manufacturer displayed components for cluster munitions at the Eurosatory trade fair, held in Paris in June 2018.[13]

International cluster munition producers have also displayed their products at various defense industry events in India. At an exhibition in Bangalore in February 2017, Russia displayed its RBK-500U SPBE-K cluster bomb.[14] At an arms fair in Bangalore in February 2013, Textron Systems displayed its CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed weapon, which meets the definition of a cluster munition.[15]

India has imported cluster munitions from the United States (US) and other countries. The US announced a sale to India in 2008 of 510 air-delivered CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons manufactured by US defense contractor Textron Systems.[16] In May 2019, Indian Air Force Jaguar aircraft used at least two CBU-105 bombs during tests at the Pokhran Test Firing Range in Jaisalmer.[17]

Jane’s Information Group lists India as possessing United Kingdom (UK)-made BL755, French-made BLG-66 Belouga, and Soviet-produced RBK-250-275 and RBK-500 cluster bombs and KMG-U dispensers.[18] In 2006, India bought 28 launch units for the Russian-produced 300mm Smerch multi-barrel rocket launchers, with rockets equipped with dual-purpose and sensor-fuzed submunitions.[19]

Stockpiling

India stockpiles cluster munitions acquired from the US and other countries, but has not disclosed information on the quantities or types in its possession.

Use

The Monitor has not documented cluster munition use by India outside of testing since the adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008. It is unclear if India used cluster munitions before then.

Previous use allegations

In August 2019, India denied an allegation by Pakistan that it had used cluster munitions in the contested region of Kashmir on 30–31 July 2019, during an attack which reportedly killed two civilians, including a four-year-old boy, and wounded 11 others.[20] The Pakistan Army released photographs showing DPICM-type submunitions from artillery-delivered cluster munitions; while Pakistan’s president, foreign minister, and other high-ranking officials condemned the alleged cluster munition use for violating international law.[21]

In response, the Indian Army issued a statement asserting that “Allegations of firing of cluster bombs by India is yet another Pakistan’s lie and deception.”[22]

At the UNGA in October 2019, Pakistan repeated the claim, stating that “India, which is a State Party to the CCW, recently used cluster munitions in populated areas resulting in deaths and injuries to civilians.”[23] India responded that “Pakistan has once again made a number of baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against India which are not borne out of facts.”[24]

The Monitor has not been able to conclusively determine if cluster munitions were used during the incident, or whether India was responsible for any use.

Policy

The Republic of India has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.

At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee in November 2021, India reiterated that it “supports the vision of a world free of antipersonnel landmines and is committed to their eventual elimination.” India further stated that “the availability of militarily effective technologies that can perform cost effectively the legitimate defensive role of antipersonnel landmines will considerably facilitate the goal of the elimination of antipersonnel landmines.”[1]

India has given slight variations of the same statement over recent years, which shows how little its position on the Mine Ban Treaty has advanced.[2]

India has ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II, which permits certain antipersonnel landmines and, in India’s view, “enshrines the approach of taking into account legitimate defence requirements of states especially those with long borders.”

India participated as an observer at several meetings during the Ottawa Process that created the Mine Ban Treaty, including the Oslo negotiations in September 1997. However, India did not adopt the treaty or attend its signing conference in December 1997.

India has attended several meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty as an observer, most recently the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually in November 2021. India gave a statement that covered the same points made in previous years at meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty and the UNGA First Committee.[3]

India abstained from voting on UNGA Resolution 76/26 on 6 December 2021, which called for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. India has abstained from voting on the annual UNGA resolution promoting the treaty since it was first introduced in 1997.

ICBL has urged India to undertake a comprehensive review of its policy on antipersonnel mines.[4]

India is a party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). India is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production and transfer

India is one of few countries to still produce antipersonnel mines, exclusively through the state-owned and controlled Indian Ordnance Factories.[5]

In August 2020, India announced plans to increase domestic production of antipersonnel mines and end their importation.[6] The Indian Armed Forces reportedly received the first of 700,000 domestically-produced “Pibun” blast antipersonnel mines at the end of 2021, which were designed to replace the M-14 antipersonnel mine.[7]

Three other mines are reportedly under development, including an antipersonnel fragmentation mine.

Indian Ordnance Factories produces the M-14 and M-16 antipersonnel mines, which are copies of earlier United States (US) designs.[8] Tender records retrieved from a publicly accessible online government procurement database from 2016–2022 show that Indian Ordnance Factories has listed tenders for components of M-16, M-14, and APER-1B antipersonnel mines.[9] Components produced under these contracts have been supplied to Ammunition Factory Khadki and Ordnance Factory Chandrapur in Maharashtra state, and to Ordnance Factory Dum Dum in West Bengal.[10]

In November 2021, India said that a moratorium on the export and transfer of antipersonnel mines has been in place since May 1996.[11] India has previously stated that it favors an outright ban on the transfer of antipersonnel landmines, even to States Parties of CCW Amended Protocol II.[12] Five States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty have reported Indian-made landmines in their stockpiles: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mauritius, Sudan, and Tanzania.

In June 2018, a private Indian arms manufacturer advertised a “bounding mine with fuze” in its sales catalogue at the Eurosatory military trade event in Paris. On the second day of the event, Eurosatory organizers ordered the display booth of the Indian company to close, and removed their entry at the event from the online catalogue.[13] Previously, in February 2017, the same Indian arms manufacturer had components for bounding fragmentation antipersonnel landmines listed within its sales catalogue on display at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) military trade event in Abu Dhabi.[14]

Stockpiling

In 1999, the Monitor estimated that India stockpiled between four and five million antipersonnel mines, making it one of the world’s largest stockpilers.[15] India has neither confirmed nor denied this estimate.

Use

Government

India’s last significant use of antipersonnel mines was between December 2001 and July 2002, when the Indian Army laid an estimated two million landmines along its northern and western borders with Pakistan, in Operation Parakram.[16]

In 2010, India stated that the army had not laid any mines during 2008 or 2009.[17] Indian officials have often stated that “There is no minefield or mined area in any part of India’s interiors,” but have acknowledged that “minefields are laid, if required, along the border areas as part of military operations.”[18]

The Monitor has previously reported mine use during counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir.[19] Civilians continued to be killed and injured by landmines in Kashmir in 2020 and 2021. Conflict between India and China over disputed territory in Kashmir resulted in at least one death and one injury in August 2020 due to mines laid in the area in the past.[20]

Non-state armed groups

New use of improvised antipersonnel landmines, attributed to non-state armed groups (NSAGs) affiliated with the Maoist insurgency in India, has been reported sporadically since 2017.

There were several reports and allegations in 2021 and 2022 that the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-M) and its People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) continued to use pressure plate antipersonnel mines. In February 2022, a journalist was killed by a mine placed under a CPI-M banner in Kalanhandi district, Odisha state.[21] A farmer in the same area was killed five days later by a mine and CPI-M banners were found nearby.[22] One civilian died in December 2021 and two were injured in June 2021 in Lohardaga district, Jharkhand state, due to mines that local police said were laid by the CPI-M/PLGA.[23] In early 2021, officials reported that the CPI-M/PLGA laid improvised antipersonnel mines in several districts of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states, which had killed and injured police officers as well as locals gathering forest products.[24] In July 2021, in Jharkhand state, a villager taken by the armed forces to guide them in the jungle died after stepping on a mine attributed to the CPI-M.[25]

There have been no reports or allegations of landmine use by insurgents in India’s northeastern states, or in Jammu and Kashmir, in recent years. Some NSAGs operating in India have committed to ban antipersonnel mine use, but none in recent years.[26]

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.

Casualties Overview

In 2016, the Monitor identified 79 casualties from mines, including improvised mines (victim activated improvised explosive devices, IEDs) and other ERW in the Republic of India.[1] Of the total casualties for which the sex were known, 63 were male and nine were female, including five girls.[2] Of the total, there were 23 civilian casualties and 56 military personnel. Fifteen mine/ERW casualties occurred in the region of Jammu and Kashmir.

The 79 mine/ERW casualties identified in 2016 represented a massive increase from the seven casualties in 2015.[3] Such fluctuations in annual casualty figures are not necessarily indicative of trends, since India lacks a systematic data collection system, however significantly more casualties of “pressure mines” or improvised mines were reported in media in 2016.

The cumulative number of casualties in India is not known. Between 1999 and 2016, the Monitor identified 3,730 mine, improvised mine, and ERW casualties in India (1,091 killed; 2,638 injured; 1 unknown).

Casualties

Casualties Overview

In 2015, the Monitor identified seven casualties from mines and other ERW in the Republic of India. Of the total casualties for which the age and sex were known,[1] five were men and one was a boy. There were six civilian casualties, including one child casualty. All incidents occurred in the region of Jammu and Kashmir.[2]

The seven mine/ERW casualties identified in 2015 represented a decrease from the 18 casualties in 2014, 23 casualties in 2013, 78 casualties in 2012, 51 casualties in 2011, and 26 casualties recorded in 2010. Such fluctuations in annual casualty figures are not necessarily indicative of trends and can be attributed to the challenges in collecting consistent and accurate data from media and local sources, since India lacks a systematic data collection system.

The cumulative number of casualties in India is not known. Between 1999 and 2015, the Monitor identified 3,191 victim-activated mine/improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and ERW casualties in India (1,083 killed; 2,107 injured; 1 unknown). Nearly half of these casualties were civilians.

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors is unknown, but at least 2,107 people were injured through the end of 2015.

Assessing victim assistance needs

In early 2015, Handicap International (HI) carried out a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) survey regarding risks surrounding mines/ERW and IEDs in four districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The survey focused on risk education, but also identified an apparently high prevalence of disability in border areas that required further investigation.[3]

Victim assistance coordination

India does not have any specific coordination mechanisms or national plans for mine/ERW victim assistance.

The MSJE coordinated the Indian physical rehabilitation sector. A new Department of Disability Affairs within the MSJE began operation in May 2012. Its role is to facilitate the empowerment of all persons with disabilities, to regulate physical rehabilitation services and various disability funds, as well as to develop and implement India’s legal framework as it relates to physical disability.[4]

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities bill was finalized in 2014 and began the parliamentary process for adoption.[5] The history of the bill process began with a draft proposal in 2011 following consultations with persons with disabilities and disabled people’s organizations (DPOs). The second draft was notified by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2012. However, that draft was opposed in part by several key stakeholders. Disability rights actors united against the third draft of bill, of 2013, which was believed to contain violations of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[6] In February 2014, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament of India, to replace the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995). The Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment of the Rajya Sabha submitted its report on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 on 7 May 2015.[7] As of May 2016, the bill had not yet been passed.

At the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in Maputo in 2014, India stated that “Mine victims are also assisted in rehabilitation through the provision of financial compensation, employment and health assistance. India’s ratification of the CRPD underscores the importance that we attach to victim assistance.”[8]

India stated that its 2007 ratification of the CRPD underscores the importance it attaches to victim assistance.[9] India did not submit a Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Amended Protocol II Article 13 report nor a Protocol V Article 10 report for the period from April 2015 to March 2016. Its April 2014 to March 2015 report did not include details of victim assistance provided, and India noted that the situation had remained unchanged since 2006.[10] In the April 2014 to March 2015 CCW Protocol V Article 10 report, India stated that reporting on the protection of the civilian population from the effects of ERW was not applicable for India.[11]

Survivor inclusion

Associations of mine survivors were included in the consultative process to in initial draft of the national Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill (2011).[12]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[13]

Budget shortfalls forced the suspension of programs by the ICRC SFD in India in 2014. The ICRC took over support for SFD programs.[14] In 2015, the ICRC continued to provide support for six rehabilitation centers including the Artificial Limb Centre at the Bone and Joint Hospital, Srinagar; the Artificial Limb Centre at the Governmental Medical College, Jammu; and the Voluntary Medicare Society in Jammu and Kashmir. These ICRC-supported centers assisted 15 mine/ERW survivors to obtain prosthetic limbs in 2015, a decrease compared to 26 in 2014 and 64 survivors in 2013.[15] However, this continues to represent a significant increase in contrast with the period 2000 to 2010, when just 95 survivors were served during the entire period.

The government has stated at international meetings that mine survivors and families of those killed by mines are entitled to compensation.[16] Monetary compensation to landmine survivors and family members of people killed is distributed by the Ministry of Defence under a 2006 decree. However, many survivors have not been successful in applying for compensation.[17]

The standard one-time compensation payment from the government is the equivalent of US$1,500, which is inadequate to cover treatment and the future needs of survivors.[18] To pay for medical expenses, families often have to borrow money or sell their land or livestock, resulting in worsening economic situations overall.[19]

Psychosocial support for survivors continued to be limited. MSF provided mental health and psychosocial care, particularly for conflict and weapons victims at five fixed locations in Srinagar and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Teams also visited victims of violence in Srinagar hospitals and provided psychological first aid, thereby ensuring basic psychological, social, and material needs were being met.[20]

India’s Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 protects the rights of persons with disabilities. However, discrimination in employment, education, and access to healthcare remained pervasive, especially in rural areas. Legislation requires that all public buildings and transportation be accessible for persons with disabilities, although accessibility remained limited.[21]

India ratified the CRPD on 1 October 2007.