India among 3 countries to destroy chemical arms

LONDON: One of the world’s leading thinktanks on weapons and the global arms race says that over 15,000 tonnes of chemical weapons are lying stockpiled across the globe.

As of October 31, 2012, Iraq, Libya, Russia and the US are yet to complete destruction of their chemical weapon stockpiles.

Swedish arms watchdog Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ( SIPRI ) has said that around 54,258 tonnes (78%) of the most lethal chemical weapons had been destroyed. Around 13 states had declared 70 former chemical production facilities. Around 43 of these facilities had been destroyed and 21 converted to peaceful purposes.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW) has confirmed that India is among the seven states that have declared chemical weapon stockpiles. The others are Albania , Iraq, South Korea, Libya , Russia and the US. Albania , India and South Korea, in fact, are the only three countries which have destroyed their stockpiles.

The deadline for the final destruction of chemical weapons under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) passed on 29 April 2012. As of December 31, 188 states had ratified or acceded to the convention.

According to SIPRI, as of November 2012, Libya had destroyed 13.5 tonnes (51% of its declared 26 tonnes) of category 1 sulphur mustard chemical weapons. As of the same date, it had destroyed 555.7 tonnes (40%) of its category 2 chemical weapons.

The current schedule for Libya is to complete the destruction of category 1 chemical weapons by December 31, 2013, and category 2 chemical weapons by December 31, 2016.