India reiterates commitment to peacekeeping
By Arun Kumar, IANSThursday, February 24, 2011
UNITED NATIONS - Noting that India has partnered UN peacekeeping since its inception in the 1950s, India has reiterated its commitment to the furtherance of international peace and security as UN partner.
“India today has the expertise, willingness and means to support peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts,” India’s deputy permanent UN representative, Manjeev Singh Puri said at the special committee on peacekeeping operations Wednesday.
With about 100,000 personnel and eminent force commanders having served in over 40 missions, India remains committed to the furtherance of international peace and security as partner of the UN, he said.
Peacekeeping and peacebuilding are processes that are complementary and not mutually exclusive, Puri said.
Noting that early peacebuilding dividends enhance mission credibility among the host populations, he said: “Attempts to make these sequential or compartmentalised will be counterproductive.”
“Success depends on the coherence, harmony, and synergy among peacekeeping and peacebuilding tasks,” Puri added.
Asserting that the support to the national authorities in security sector reforms, rule of law, transitional justice and corrections is of critical importance, he said: “Restoration of national institutions of governance should be our top priority in the immediate aftermath of peace-restoration.”
India believes that the strategies of development and economic revitalisation will not take root unless grounded upon institutions of state administration, he said. In these times of financial austerity, Puri suggested the UN should also plan to do what we can afford to do.
Appreciating initiatives towards gender mainstreaming in all peacekeeping missions, he noted that the performance of India’s female formed-police-unit in Liberia stands testimony to the value that women peacekeepers bring to this endeavour.
Reiterating India’s stand with regard to zero tolerance in respect of disciplinary and conduct issues, he pointed out that nations contribute troops for a larger cause: that of peace in far off lands.
“The safety and security of UN peacekeepers must be of paramount concern to this organisation, in whose name they serve,” he said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
