As a major contributor to the peacekeeping missions of the United Nations, India today said the mandate of the world body's peacekeeping missions are too broad and there is very little co-relation with its ability to deliver.
"As a nation that has provided and continues to provide the UN thousands of soldiers and policemen, in addition to a large proportion of operating air assets, we feel that the nature of the Security Council's mandates and the manner in which they are generated is an area of major concern," Indian Ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said.
Addressing a special meeting of the Security Council on Peacekeeping here Puri said: "Mandates are too broad and have very little correlation with the ability of the organisation to deliver."
Reiterating the importance of Brahimi committee recommendation that mandates be clear and achievable, Puri said: "We also reiterate that this will not be possible without substantively involving countries who contribute manpower and resources to Peacekeeping Operations."
Taking note of the Council's intention to increase interaction with the Secretariat during drafting of a mandate on the rule of law and peace building dimensions of an operation, he said: "We believe that the future effectiveness of the United Nations in the maintenance of peace and security in the context of peacekeeping lies in its ability to harness national governance capacities in affected countries."
These national capacities, as the post-colonial experience in many societies reveal, usually exist in ample measure. The challenge lies in applying the capacities and knowledge of countries that have undergone successful post- colonial nation-building exercises to these situation, Puri said.
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"The Council therefore needs to expand the ambit of its consultations to include these countries," he said.
Observing that the UN Secretariat has a predilection for codification, he said doctrines and benchmarks are constantly being written and updated.
"While we have no argument with the need to set standards, we need to remind ourselves that standards should be set in a manner which is realistic and relevant to the operating environment in which UN peacekeepers deploy," he said.
"Doctrines and standards must not become like mandates - statements rather than a blueprint for action," Puri said.
The Indian Ambassador said India is of the view that the Department of Field Support needs far greater internal coordination and client-orientation.
"It has also been our view that the Department of Field Support needs to function as a military support operation with a lean command structure. We feel that there is a need for far greater engagement of Member States on functioning of the DFS," he said.