Success of peacekeeping depends on UN's moral force: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that India will contribute an additional battalion of 850 troops for United Nations peacekeeping operations, but also raised concern that troop contributing countries have no role in decision-making.

"India's commitment to UN Peacekeeping remains strong and will grow," Modi said in his address to the UN Summit on Peace Operations.

Announcing India's new intended contributions, Modi said the country will contribute additional battalion of up to 850 troops in existing or new operations and three police units with higher representation of female peacekeepers. He also announced India's commitment to provide critical enablers; deployment of technical personnel in UN missions; and, additional training for peacekeepers at facilities in India and in the field.

"The success of peacekeeping ultimately depends not on the weapons they (soldiers) carry but by the moral force of the UNSC," he told the gathering including Obama, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and leaders from a large number of other countries.

"The problems arise to a large extent because troop contributing countries do not have a role in the decision-making process," he said, adding "they do not have adequate representation in senior management and as force commanders".

Underlining the difficult circumstances under which troops have to do their duty, Modi said peacekeepers today are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also address a range of complex challenges. "Mandates are ambitious but resources are limited... Today's peacekeepers are called upon not only to maintainpeace and security, but also address a range of challenges," the PM said.

He called for peacekeeping missions to be deployed prudently with full recognition of their limitations and in support of political solutions.

Modi welcomed holding of the peacekeeping summit at a time when the UN is in the 70th year of its existence. He said the security environment was changing with peacekeepers facing a range of complex challenges as demands are growing and resources are decreasing.

"Mandates are ambitious but resources are limited... Today's peacekeepers are called upon not only to maintain peace and security, but also address a range of challenges,” the PM said.

Asserting that India's commitment to peacekeeping remains strong and will grow, he noted that the country had been contributing to such missions from the beginning and was the first to send its female unit to Liberia.

One hundred and sixty one Indian soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice during peacekeeping missions, he said.

Modi pointed out that Indian soldiers had been working on peacekeeping missions since World War II during which it lost more than 24000 troops and nearly half of that went missing. "This legacy of sacrifice is shared by three nations present here," he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan and Bangladesh. He said that a memorial wall for the fallen peacekeepers should be erected expeditiously, for which India will contribute financially also.

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