An Indian delegation is attending the Kimberley Process (KP) Plenary meeting taking place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from 6th to 10th November 2023. The KP is an international initiative to prevent the trade of conflict diamonds, which are used to finance wars and human rights abuses.
The Indian delegation is led by Mr. R. Arulanandan, Director, Department of Commerce, Govt. of India. He is accompanied by Mr. Sabyasachi Ray, Executive Director, GJEPC; Mr. Rajat Wani, Assistant Director, GJEPC; Ms. Jilpa Sheth, Consultant; Mr. Shashank Upadhyay, Sr. Manager, GJEPC; and Mr. Abhizar Bootwala, Sr. Manager, GJEPC.
The KP Plenary meeting is the annual gathering of the KP members, observers and civil society representatives. It is hosted by Zimbabwe, the Chair of the KP for 2023, in a hybrid format: online and in-person at Victoria Falls.
India is one of the founding members of the KP and has served as the KP Chair in 2008 and 2019. India has been actively involved in the KP activities and initiatives, such as the Peer Review Mechanism, the Working Groups On Statistics, Monitoring, Diamond Experts and more.
The Plenary will review the progress and challenges of the KP in ensuring the transparency and accountability of the global diamond trade. It will also discuss the future direction and reforms of the KP, including the expansion of its scope and definition of conflict diamonds.