Bhutan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, but it voted in favor of the UN General Assembly Resolution 57/74 calling for universalization of the treaty on 22 November 2002, as it had done in previous years. Bhutan did not attend any Mine Ban Treaty-related meetings in 2002 or the first half of 2003. Bhutan is not believed to use, produce, trade, or stockpile antipersonnel mines. It apparently does not have a landmine problem. Armed opposition groups from the northeast Indian state of Assam, including the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and the United Liberation Front of Assam, maintain bases in southern Bhutan[1] and possess and use landmines and/or improvise explosive devices.[2] No landmine incidents in Bhutan or involving Bhutanese nationals were reported in 2002.
[1] “Assam: Act to close insurgent camps in Bhutan,” Press Trust of India, 29 June 2003.
[2] See country report on India.