Even a single conflict diamond is one too many: India

India on Monday asserted that it would work with the international community to ensure that even a single conflict diamond is not traded across the globe. In the opening session of the annual Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Mumbai, Director General of Foreign Trade Alok Vardhan Chaturvedi declared in the presence of 82 countries that “Even a single conflict diamond is too many.”

Conflict Diamonds or blood diamonds are diamonds that are mined in areas that are controlled by factions opposing legitimate and internationally recognised governments. They might be sold to finance an insurgency. The 4Cs (Cut, Clarity, Colour and Carat) of diamonds may soon be expanded to 5Cs with the 5th C being ‘Conflict-free’, while 5Ps of diamond marketing (Precious, Popular, Prestige, Priceless) will include ‘Peace’.

President of the World Diamond Council Stephane Fischler, and coordinator of the KP Civil Society Coalition Shamiso Mtisi, also addressed the inaugural session. The DG said that conflict diamonds have been almost completely excluded from global trade. Every rough diamond is accompanied by a certificate confirming its non-conflict origin, and export-import procedures in most countries are now subject to rigorous control.

Chaturvedi noted that the international diamond industry has welcomed the adoption of the resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on March 1, 2019 which calls for strengthening of KP to more effectively delink the illicit transaction of diamonds and conflict.

As the largest manufacturing centre and a major importer of rough diamonds, India has a unique position in between producers of rough diamonds and consumers of cut and polished diamonds. Also, the KPCS is immensely important to India, with more than 1 million people being directly employed by the industry and with diamond exports amounting to more than US dollar 24 billion, said Chaturvedi.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) Intersessional Meeting 2019 is an annual mid-year event of KPCS, which unites administrations, civil societies and diamond industry in reducing the flow of conflict diamonds used to finance wars against governments around the world. India is the KP chair for 2019 and is hosting the KP Intersessional meeting in Mumbai during June 17–21.