Westlake High School
India
Topic 1: South China Sea
The Republic of India believes that the dispute in the South China Sea is multifaceted and
deserves to be treated with the greatest care with regards to creating a long-lasting solution that will
satisfy all parties involved. The Republic of India firmly believes that the lines, the channels of trade
and the lines of communication should be kept open and the sea, which, according to UN
international law of the sea, is common to all the countries that use it. Additionally, India believes
that the concerned countries in this dispute should abide by and implement the 2002 Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and to work towards the adoption of a Code of
Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of consensus, in order to prevent future disputes by
allowing all parties to create agreements that satisfy all interests. The Republic of India would also
welcome the establishment of the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum for developing maritime
norms that would reinforce existing international law relating to maritime security
The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea of 1982 currently is accepted by 165 countries and
the European Union. This standard for setting international oceanic rights must be upheld in all
instances and must not be applied selectively. As a part of this accepted international law, the
Republic of India believes that for each country, a 12 mile territorial water zone is granted, where the
coastal state is free to set laws, regulate use, and use any resource, a 12 mile contiguous zone is
granted, in which a state can continue to enforce laws in four specific areas: customs, taxation,
immigration and pollution, and finally a 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone is granted, wherein the
coastal nation has sole exploitation rights over all natural resources.
In order to incentivize peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea, the Republic of
India believes that the United Nations should recommend that bilateral talks be called for in order to
create a forum where specific grievances can be worked out between interested parties, and where
solutions to the problems at hand can be tailored to meet specific regional and local needs.
Finally, in order to create long lasting good relations in the region, The Republic of India
believes that military aggression or solutions that involve military action are not preferable, seeing as
military solutions could potentially involve large losses of human life and protracted struggles that
involve large quantities of resources and time that will be diverted from more beneficial efforts and
programs such as creating better educational systems and building more efficient systems of
infrastructure that will benefit many millions of people.
Westlake High School
India
Topic 2: Chemical Weaponry
The Republic of India has a strong commitment to ending the usage of chemical weapons in
the world. As a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 (CWC), the Republic of
India recognizes international law on the topic and is fully committed to the total destruction of all
chemical weapons in the world, shown by India completing the total destruction of all of its chemical
weapons stocks in 2010. However, India realizes that immediate large scale destruction of all
chemical weapons stocks is not feasible with current technology and current resources without
irreparably harming the environment. However, the Republic of India sees the technique of
neutralization as the most preferable technique for chemical weapons destruction currently, as this
technique causes the least amount of harm to the environment if executed properly. The proliferation
of this technique of disposal should be encouraged by the United Nations and this committee.
The Republic of India, holding in its strong anti-chemical weapons belief, believes that the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) needs to have its power extended in
order to more effectively suggest compliance with the action plans of the Chemical Weapons
Convention, whose goal is to ultimately reduce and eradicate chemical weapons stocks around the
world.
If further suggestions and recommendations are needed to convince compliance with the
Chemical Weapons Convention, the Republic of India believes that the United Nations can create an
incentives structure where in the United Nations could potentially offer more humanitarian aid to
countries who comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention, with a sliding scale added in to
reward countries who comply in a smaller timescale than other nations.
With regards to chemical weapons falling into the hands of extremist organizations or
countries who have not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Republic of India believes
that any and all measures must be taken to prevent chemical weapons from falling into possession of
extremist organizations, while chemical weapons possessed by non CWC countries must be closely
monitored. The United Nations and its member states must actively discourage non CWC country
dissemination of chemical weapons by disincentivizing their usage through diplomatic means or by
suggesting that economic sanctions will be imposed upon the offending nation. For extremist
organizations, the United Nations should recommend that member states take anti-terror actions such
as surveillance of extremist organizations and attempting to infiltrate such organizations. While
realizing that military action with regard to extremist organization is not preferable, the Republic of
India believes should the situation warrant it, responsible, controlled military action may be used
against such extremist organizations.
