Outgoing UN peacekeeping chief praises Indian troops

The outgoing chief of UN peacekeeping forces has lauded India and other South Asian countries for contributing well trained and well behaved troops to the world body's peacekeeping missions.
"The contribution of South Asian countries is very valuable in terms of numbers because usually the three or four largest contributors rotate between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Those usually are among the three or four largest contributors," Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous told reporters here yesterday during his final briefing in this post.
He will be succeeded by another French diplomat Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
He said troop contributors from the South Asian nations have given the UN large numbers of peacekeepers but also "good people, people who are well trained, well equipped and in most cases behave correctly."

He said while there have been a few cases of disciplinary nature against South Asian peacekeepers, these have not been huge numbers.
"Countries of the region, yes, they have been very active peacekeepers, they have paid the price, unfortunately, in terms of casualties. I appreciated very much their role and contribution during my tenure," he said.

India is among the largest contributor of peacekeepers to the world body.
As of February 2017, a total of 7606 Indian peacekeepers were deployed in UN missions, including 6763 troops and 782 police personnel.
It has also suffered significant casualties with 163 peacekeepers making the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.

Indian peacekeepers have maintained a clean record as the world body investigates allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation against the Blue Helmets.
India has said it has a policy of zero tolerance against sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers.
India has also informed the UN Secretariat it had appointed a focal point to handle future paternity claims related to sexual exploitation and abuse.
The outgoing chief said UN peacekeeping is becoming more agile and capable, even as the cost for each peacekeeper fell 16 per cent in recent years, dropping the entire budget of the blue helmets worldwide to around USD 7.2 billion.

"It's a lot of money at face value, but it's 0.4 per cent of world military expenditure," he said.
"No other army has done what the United Nations has done over the past six years," he added.
The price for UN peacekeeping operations is currently USD 7.2 billion, down from USD 8.2 billion in 2011.
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Despite the evolution of peacekeeping, its operations are often hampered by ongoing challenges, Ladsous noted.
These include deployments to countries where there is no political process.
"Peacekeeping is about political solutions. The visible part is the soldiers, the uniforms, the policemen, but the reality is that we're there to serve a political solution and quite often, it was the case in Mali initially, it was the case in CAR [Central African Republic] initially, there was no political solution in sight," he said.

The Security Council "is not always as supportive as it should be" in such circumstances, nor in instances where UN 'blue helmets' should be sent.
One of the greatest challenges, however, is managing expectations of UN Member States, donor countries and other actors.
"The heart of the mandate is about protection of civilians. This is an extremely difficult issue. Yet we cannot have a peacekeeper behind every single citizen in the theatre," Ladsous said.
While it is difficult to quantify, UN peacekeeping saves lives, the outgoing chief said.