Express Focus -- DEFENCE -- by Indian Express

It's cheap, easily available and comes with a lethal bang. So lethal that it has left a growing band of disabled people across the globe over the years. Unfortunately, anti-personnel mines have targeted more innocents than combatants, adding to the legacy of tragedy.

Of suspect tactical and strategic value, the anti-personnel land mine has been targeted by soldiers and civilians worldwide. Like in the nuclear issue, India has resisted from signing on the dotted line to ban these mines. But December 12 saw a subtle shift in the policy when the Indian Ambassador to the Convention on Disarmament at Geneva, Rakesh Sood, got up to say his piece. ‘‘He said something that would have been impossible even three years ago,’’ says Lt Gen (retd) Gurbir Mansingh, a consultant to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Lt Gen Mansingh has been part of the Indian initiatives to ban the mine. So, quo vadis?

Lt Gen Mansingh, who has been carrying a copy of Sood’s statement, calls it positive. ‘‘Sood went ahead to say that India was committed to the banning of AP (anti-personnel) mines.’’ In fact, Sood made an erudite speech explaining India’s position on the case of AP mines given the regular Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts in downtown Srinagar and other militancy infested areas.

Sood also pointed out that India will sign if they found ‘‘alternatives to perform the role that anti-personnel mines are doing these days. After all, they have a legitimate role to play in the defence doctrine in India’s security environment.’’ Sood’s point was ‘‘we will disarm if the others do’’. According to him, India was against the transfer of mines to other countries and had ensured that none were sold to others under any circumstances. India has also desisted from using mines in its vast counter insurgency operations, Sood pointed out.

After nearly two years of fighting militancy on the western front, India is in a piquant situation. While the Punjab crisis was snuffed out in the early ’90s, Jammu and Kashmir seems to be getting worse every day. ‘‘It’s the terrain and the status of the LoC that makes mining the area a credible option,’’ says a senior officer posted at the Infantry School at Mhow. While Punjab has a well marked international border, on the LoC it’s a winding line that is dynamic.

Plugging the infiltration has been the biggest headache for the troops manning the Counter Insurgency (CI) grid. In the mountainous and inundated terrain, mines suit military logic. It’s cheap, costing a mere $3 per piece and needs very little maintenance.

But the LoC has its own headaches to offer. During the monsoons, the loose earth starts drifting carrying the lethal payloads. After that, it’s anybody’s guess where the mines are.

Call it cruel logic but the military man is happy if the ‘travelling’ minefields slips into Pakistan. But in many cases it has drifted further into Indian territory, then it is the local civilian populace which is at risk. ‘‘Many a time we did not even see where the minefield was after we had planted some a year ago,’’ says an officer.
There are said to be thousands of mines of the 1947 vintage, of which no one has any idea. Most have drifted away leaving their original planters play a deadly guessing game.

And the impact of mines on the environment, wildlife and agriculture are well documented. From Rwanda to Somalia to Afghanistan to the Balkans, landmines have played havoc with the eco-system. Wildlife sanctuaries get caught in the crossfire just as farmers become casualties in the daily posturing nearer home on the LoC.

Reports also suggest that landmines have for long contributed to the aridity of land. Blowing away the top soil, they contribute to erosion that leads to aridity for successive generations.

To all this, the Indian soldier points out that are more the injured party. ‘‘Just take a look at the Road Opening Parties (ROPS) we take out in the wee hours of the morning,’’ says a junior officer back from a stint in Kashmir. ‘‘The IEDs are our biggest headache and the militants are getting better as more lethal technology is adapted by them,’’ he says. And successive reports of senior officers and their men being killed in IED blasts along with other security forces stand testimony to this.

Although a ban on landmines would be desirable, India’s security concerns pose their own challenge. Constantly engaged in a low intensity conflict, land mines offer a cheap and adequate deterrence to its defence doctrines.