Sri Lanka becomes 163rd nation to accede to landmine ban treaty

Sri Lanka has become the 163rd nation to assent to the anti-personnel mine ban convention. Sri Lanka had pledged last year to join the mine ban convention and support the international community to support the landmine clearance program.

Now, it has assented to Accession to the Convention of the Prohibition of the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines.
 
What so important?
The move is considered as significant steps from Sri Lanka because it used antipersonnel mines in the past and has since carried out an extensive, ongoing mine clearance effort.

Sri Lanka said that they look forward to implementing and promote this Convention, including through capacity-building and mine clearance.

The member country who so ever joins the treaty or Convention, they undertake to wipe out all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it possesses or that are under its control or jurisdiction, not later than 4-years after the consent to this treaty.

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About Mine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Treaty
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly referred to as the Mine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Treaty, was implemented on 18th September 1997 at the Diplomatic Conference on an International Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Land Mines at Oslo, Norway.

The Mine Ban treaty came into force on March 1, 1999. This treaty bans the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel mines.

Austria will preside and host over the sixteenth meeting of the states parties to the treaty in Vienna during the period of December 18-21, 2017.

As per the report by International Campaign to Ban Landmines- a Nobel Prize-winning campaign, last year 8,605 mine or explosive remnants of war casualties were reported, in which at least 2,089 people were killed.

After Sri Lanka's assent, three other South Asian nations have yet to join the Mine Ban Treaty: India, Nepal and Pakistan.

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