Ukraine seeks Indian peacekeepers:

Ukraine seeks Indian peacekeepers:

Context

• Ukraine is urging India to take up greater global security role to help contain the conflict with Russia in the eastern part of the country.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin made a statement asking India to play a role in the peacekeeping mission which is to come up at the discussion at the UN Security Council (UNSC).

India and the United Nations peacekeeping operations

• India is the largest growing troop contributor, having provided almost 200,000 troops in nearly 50 of the 71 UN peacekeeping missions over the past six decades, including 13 of the current 16 missions.
• India has developed a well-rounded policy, created the necessary infrastructure, and developed clear policies for participation in UN peacekeeping operations.
• In recent decades, along with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal, these states have collectively contributed some 40% of all UN peacekeepers.
• India also takes a lead in setting training standards and contributing to establishing norms. It has a well-established training center and facilities under the Center for UN Peacekeeping located in Delhi.

What is peacekeeping?

• Peacekeeping as a non-coercive and a politically impartial instrument that has always been based on a harmony of principles.
• It projects consent of parties to the conflict, impartiality of the peacekeepers, and the use of force by lightly armed peacekeepers only in self-defence.

What is the purpose of UN peacekeeping?

• The UN peacekeeping operations was established in 1948.
• The motive is to maintain peace in conflict ridden areas.
• Although peacekeepers were not deployed in many instances during the cold war, the scenario post 1989 changed in that there was a spurt in peace-keeping operations.
• Quantitative change apart, there has been a change in the nature of conflicts; Intra-state conflicts are requiring more and more peacekeepers as compared to inter-state conflicts.

Who are the UN Peacekeeping Forces?

• The United Nations Peacekeeping Forces are employed by the World Organization to maintain or re-establish peace in an area of armed conflict.
• The UN may engage in conflicts between states as well as in struggles within states.
• The UN acts as an impartial third party in order to prepare the ground for a settlement of the issues that have provoked armed conflict.
• If it proves impossible to achieve a peaceful settlement, the presence of UN forces may contribute to reducing the level of conflict.

History of India’s contribution at Peace – keeping

• India has been actively contributing to the UN peacekeeping missions since independence in different forms beginning with a medical mission in Korea.
• India participated militarily with a medical unit and later provided a Custodian Force for the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission.
• India also contributed significantly to the Indo-China Supervisory Commission deployed in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from 1954 to 1970.
• Ever since military personnel began to be deployed for peacekeeping, India has been a key contributor beginning with 1956 Arab – Israeli war.
• The success of UNEF-1 led the Security Council to readily accept a request by the Congo in 1960 for intervention on attaining independence from Belgium. India’s contribution towards ensuring peace in Congo proved vital to the country’s stability after decolonization.
• India’s contribution is not only reflective of the objectives set out in the UN charter, but also has generated goodwill in different parts of the world especially in the developing world.

What are the challenges in front of India?

• Sovereignty is being challenged by norms such as Responsibility to Protect (R2P).
• India has a role to play regionally as well as globally. India should get its political, diplomatic and military acts together, and must continue to be proactive in terms of demanding greater participation in decision making.
• There would be situations where even bilateral participation might be called for. Behavioural changes including change in style of leadership will then become necessary.
• There is a compelling need for a sizeable Rapid Reaction Force for the purpose of intervention, stabilization, deterrence and disaster response among others.

What should India do?

• India should continue to strengthen existing cooperative mechanisms with regional and global players.
• Joint working groups comprising diplomats and military personnel should be set-up to interact with multilateral forums, and exchange knowledge and perspectives.
• As the mandate of peace-keeping expands, India should share its expertise and experience, and play its part in realizing the core objective of the UN Charter – maintenance of international peace and security.