§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations she has made to the Governments of India and Pakistan regarding their policy on land mines. [59852]
§ Mr. MacShaneI have been asked to reply.
Since July 1998, when the United Kingdom became a state party to the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines, we have lobbied all users of land mines, including India and Pakistan, to ratify the Convention. Both states claim political and defence reasons for not doing so.