India has destroyed more than 90 percent of its chemical weapon stockpile and plans to eliminate its remaining stores of deadly chemical agents by April 2009, the Press Trust of India reported Sunday (see GSN, April 27, 2007).
As a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention, New Delhi had been required to complete disposal this year. However, it successfully requested a two-year extension to April 29, 2009, saying that additional time was needed to implement safety measures to protect personnel and the surrounding environment.
The destruction effort is targeting weapons classified under Category 1 of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which include grenades, bombs and munitions loaded with mustard, sarin, VX, lewisite, phosgene, soman and tabun agents
India to date has destroyed 93 percent of its Category 1 chemical weapons, according to the most recent estimate by the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (Press Trust of India, Jan. 20).