India

Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 17 November 2022

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]



[1] India Explanation of Vote on Resolution L.5, UNGA First Committee, 76th Session, New York, 2 November 2021.

[2] Ibid. India’s statement is virtually identical to its Explanation of Vote in 2018–2020, and in previous years.

[3] Statement of India, Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually, 15–19 November 2021.

[4] Ashutosh Sharma, “India’s morbid obsession with landmines,” National Herald, 22 February 2018; and Ashutosh Sharma, “Operation Parakram saw the largest use of anti-personnel mines by any government,” National Herald, 22 February 2018.

[5] Monitor meeting with Cmdr. Kumar, Ministry of External Affairs, and Col. Kabthiyal, Ministry of Defence, CCW Group of Governmental Experts (GGE), Geneva, 27 August 2018.

[8] Email reply to Right to Information Request made by Control Arms Foundation of India, from Ordnance Factory Board, Ministry of Defence, 5 May 2011.

[9] The Monitor has reviewed annually the listing on Indian Ordnance Factories Bid Assist website (previously the e-Procurement website, titled “current contracts”). Bid Assist provides a tender number, opening and closing dates, and a detailed description of the item to be manufactured. Contracts have been concluded with Indian Ordnance Factories in Maharastra or West Bengal, where mines are assembled with components from private companies.

[10] The following companies were previously listed as having contracts listed for production of components of antipersonnel mines on the Indian Ordnance Factories Purchase Orders webpage, between October 2016 and November 2017: Sheth & Co., Supreme Industries Ltd., Pratap Brothers, Brahm Steel Industries, M/s Lords Vanjya Pvt. Ltd., Sandeep Metalkraft Pvt Ltd., Milan Steel, Prakash Machine Tools, Sewa Enterprises, Naveen Tools Mfg. Co. Pvt. Ltd., Shyam Udyog, and Dhruv Containers Pvt. Ltd. In addition, the following companies had established contracts for the manufacture of mine components: Ashoka Industries, Alcast, Nityanand Udyog Pvt. Ltd., Miltech Industries, Asha Industries, and Sneh Engineering Works. Mine types indicated were either M-16, M-14, APERS 1B, or “APM” [antipersonnel] mines. Information obtained from searching Indian Ordnance Factories webpage, “List of Registered Vendors,” undated.

[11] Statement of India, Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually, 15–19 November 2021.

[12] Statement by Amb. Jayant Prasad, Eighth Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 6 November 2006.

[13] Upon being alerted to Ashoka’s presence at the Eurosatory military trade fair, ICBL contacted the French government regarding the sale catalogue’s antipersonnel mine. The brochure was observed on display at Eurosatory by Omega Research in June 2018. Emails from Omega Research, 11–12 June 2018. See also, Rachida El Azzouzi, “La planète guerrière défile à Eurosatory” (“The warrior planet parades at Eurosatory”), Mediapart, 15 June 2018.

[14] The brochure was observed on display at IDEX by Omega Research in February 2017. Email from Omega Research, 7 November 2017.

[15] See, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, April 1999), p. 467. The figure may no longer be accurate following the large number of mines planted along the Pakistani border in 2001 and 2002, or taking into consideration new production of mines.

[16] This was probably the most extensive use of antipersonnel mines anywhere in the world since the Mine Ban Treaty was negotiated and first signed in 1997. See, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2006: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, July 2006), p. 898; ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2004: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, October 2004), pp. 976–977; and ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2002: Toward a Mine-Free World (New York: Human Rights Watch, August 2002), pp. 660–662.

[17] Reply to Right to Information Act Request, made by Control Arms Foundation of India, from Lt.-Col. Rajesh Raghav, GSO-1RTI, Central Public Information Officer, Indian Army, 8 April 2010.

[18] Statement by Brig. S. M. Mahajan, Director of Military Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Fifth National Conference of the Indian Campaign to Ban Landmines, New Delhi, 23–24 April 2008. This has been stated frequently in the past. See, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2007: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2007), p. 834; ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2006: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, July 2006), p. 898; and ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2005: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2005), p. 716.

[19] See, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2009), p. 933; ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2007: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2007), p. 834; and, ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2006: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, July 2006), p. 898.

[20] Vijaita Singh, “Deceased SFF soldier patrolled areas along LAC for past one month,” The Hindu, 5 September 2020. Mine casualties, both military and civilian, including civilians acting as porters for the army, occur monthly according to media monitoring by the Monitor. See also, Ashutosh Sharma, “Death-traps along the border: Why are Indian landmines killing Indians?,” National Herald, 9 December 2018.

[21]Landmine blast by Naxals claims life of journalist in Odisha's Kalahandi,” The New Indian Express, 5 February 2022.

[22]Cowherd dies in landmine blast in Kandhamal forest, Maoist posters found at site,” Hindustan Times, 9 February 2022. In March, in Kandhamal district, Odisha state, another villager was injured by landmines attributed to CPI-M/PLGA use. See, “Villager Injured In Landmine Blast In Kandhamal,” Ommcom News, 28 March 2022.

[23]Villager dies in landmine blast in Lohardaga,” The Pioneer, 24 December 2021; “2 CRPF jawans injured in landmine blast in Lohardaga,” The Pioneer, 12 February 2022; and “Third CRPF jawan injured in landmine blast in Lohardaga,” The Pioneer, 13 February 2022.

[24] While collecting leaves in the forest, one woman was killed and four were injured after they stepped on a mine attributed by officials to have been laid by the PLGA, on the border of Latehar and Gumla districts, in Jharkhand state. Injuries from pressure plate mines have previously been reported in this area. See, “Woman Killed, 3 Injured in Landmine Blast by Maoists at Jharkhand Forest,” News 18, 16 January 2021. Later that month, also in Jharkhand state, a young man was injured while tending cattle in the forest. See, Vishvendu Jaipuriar, “Chatra youth loses leg in landmine blast in Chatra,” The Telegraph, 21 January 2021. In March 2021, in Chhattisgarh state, an officer of the Special State Armed Forces was killed after stepping on a pressure plate mine. See, “Chhattisgarh Armed Force Jawan Killed In Blast Triggered By Maoists,” Press Trust of India, 4 March 2021.

[25] Mukesh Ranjan, “Villager guiding cops killed after IED planted by Maoists explodes in Jharkhand’s Gumla,” New Indian Express, 14 July 2021. It is not known if this was voluntary or forced labour. The article states that there were other similar casualties.

[26] In March 2009, the Zomi Re-unification Organisation renounced mine use by signing Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment; as did the Kuki National Organization in Manipur in August 2006, and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-Isak/Muivah in Nagaland in October 2003. In October 2007, the United Jihad Council, a coalition of 18 organizations in Kashmir, issued a Declaration of a Total Ban on Antipersonnel Mines in Kashmir.