“The ready availability of illicit small arms has fostered crime, drug trafficking, robbery, rapes, illegal exploitation of natural resources, and promoted violence in our country. Only last week, the city of Nagpur saw how a businessman was robbed and injured at gunpoint in the downtown area of Sitabuldi in broad daylight,” said Dr Geeta Kurhade of the Medicovet Rural Welfare Society, Nagpur. Dr Kurhade is attending the New York meeting as the only Indian representative of the International Action Network on Small Arms.
“The second world summit on small arms will be held in June, and as these early discussions take place this week, the Indian government must ensure that it supports tough international action to control the illicit arms trade. Existing arms controls are powerless to protect innocent civilians,” she said.
Governments must learn lessons on more effective ways to address the serious challenges posed by the illicit trade in and easy availability of small arms, said Jayant Prasad, the head of the Indian government delegation, in a statement to the conference this week. This week’s UN meeting in New York will prepare the ground for a landmark UN conference on small arms controls in June.
Five years ago, governments met for the first time to discuss controls on the small arms trade, and unanimously agreed on the Programme of Action to curb the illicit trade in guns. Noting that the 2001 conference was a ‘landmark event’, Prasad said that ‘the need now is to implement the Programme of Action fully in a truly collaborative framework.’ He called for cooperative assistance by governments, civil society, voluntary agencies and UN inter-governmental bodies in combating the proliferation of small arms.
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