§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the number of anti-personnel mines on the India-Pakistan border. [31280]
§ Mr. BradshawWe are concerned by reports that both India and Pakistan are laying anti-personnel land mines (APLs) along the international border, and will continue to monitor the situation closely. We urge India and Pakistan to cease the deployment of land mines, to clear existing mines and to sign the Ottawa Convention. We continue to press for India and Pakistan to resolve the issues between them through dialogue.
The British Government are completely opposed to the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of APLs. We ratified the Ottawa Convention in July 1998 banning APLs, and announced a complete ban on their use by British forces.