Why in the News?
The Kimberley Process Plenary has selected India to assume the Chairmanship of the Kimberley Process from 1 January 2026. This will be the third time India will chair the process.
About the Kimberley Process
- It is a tripartite initiative involving governments, the international diamond industry, and civil society.
- Aim is to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds.
- Conflict diamonds are rough diamonds used by rebel groups to finance armed conflicts against legitimate governments, as defined by UN Security Council resolutions.
Governance Structure
- Chair and Vice Chair are appointed by Plenary consensus.
- Vice Chair of a year automatically becomes Chair the following year.
- Plenary is the highest decision making body of the Kimberley Process.
Participants
- 60 participants representing 86 countries.
- European Union is counted as a single participant.
India and the Kimberley Process
- India has been participating in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme since 2003.
- This is the third time India has been entrusted with the Chairmanship.
- India is a major global hub for diamond cutting and polishing, giving it strategic importance in KP deliberations.
Prelims Pointers
- Kimberley Process deals only with rough diamonds, not polished diamonds.
• KP is not a UN body, but works in alignment with UN Security Council resolutions.
• Certification is mandatory for international trade in rough diamonds among KP participants.
• EU counts as one participant despite multiple countries.
| Consider the following pairs: (2025)
Country – Resource-rich in; I. Botswana: Diamond; II. Chile: Lithium; III. Indonesia: Nickel. In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched? (a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All the three (d) None |
