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India and the United Nations: Past and Future

The subject of today’s discussion is peacekeeping but you have asked me to speak on a much broader plane about the past and future of the United Nations. Last year marked a hundred years of multilateralism. The founding of the League of Nations in January 1920 to maintain peace and foster international cooperation represented the first real institutionalization of multilateralism.

Peacekeeping in Lebanon: Reminiscences of the First Indian Battalion Group Commander

This couplet from an old Iranian poem, inscribed at the entrance gate of United Nations (UN) Headquarters (HQ), conveys a message signifying the purpose of the UN. The principal aim of the UN is to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, including actions for suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of peace. The UN peacekeeping attempts to help countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace.

India’s Role in UN Peacekeeping Operations

The basic role of the armed forces is to defend the country against external aggression and to protect it from internal threat when its ‘national security’ is jeopardised. Apart from carrying out these functions, in the seven decades of independence, the Indian Armed Forces have been actively participating in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations.

India and UN Peacekeeping in Africa: An Assessment

Over the last seven decades, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs) have helped several countries across the world to move away from the path of conflict. Africa has been a significant region for deployment of the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, often known as ‘the blue helmets’. Out of the 12 ongoing UNPKOs, six are located in Africa.1 They include Western Sahara (MINURSO), Mali (MINUSMA), Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Central African Republic (MINUSCA), South Sudan (UNMISS) and Abyei (UNISFA), a disputed border area between Sudan and South Sudan.

Against All Odds: The Forgotten Tales of Independent India’s Tryst with Peacekeeping

There is a part of history that many in India are not familiar with today. This article is an account of Independent India’s first overseas mission under the UN – The unique role that the Indian military played in the Korean conflict.

Nation-building: A Case for Armed Forces in Post-conflict Peacebuilding

Indian peacekeeping forces have served the cause of international peacekeeping for over 70 years and have logged not just an enviable record doing so, but have garnered a huge bank of institutional knowledge on post-conflict transitions. With the country on the cusp of becoming a power centre in the international comity of nations, it is imperative to recognise and utilise this knowledge for the armed forces to contribute to nation-building. The author argues for an enhanced role for the armed forces in post-intervention and fragile transition governance operations.

India–US Peacekeeping Cooperation

Both India and the United States (US) have a long history of supporting the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKOs). Over the last two decades, the two countries have significantly expanded cooperation in peacekeeping operations to advance the purposes and principles of UN peacekeeping. In this regard, India and US established a Joint Working Group (JWG) on PKOs to deepen cooperation on peacekeeping issues. They have partnered with African countries to build and enhance the capacity of African troops to help them effectively participate in the UN PKOs.

Four Decades of UNIFIL: Mandates, Contributions and Challenges

Established in 1978 with the objective of ensuring Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been a key factor in maintaining stability along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon since then. There are divergent views on the achievements of the mission after more than four decades of its deployment.

China and the Pacific Islands: A New Theatre of Great Power Competition

Wang Yi’s visit to the Pacific Island Countries highlights Beijing’s efforts to further consolidate ties with the region.

Esha Banerji
July 11, 2022
Issue Brief

Uniformed Women in UN Peacekeeping Operations: An Assessment of India’s Contribution

The defect in the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 has occurred by viewing rationales for increasing uniformed women peacekeepers from the instrumentalist perspective. The slow rate of increase in uniformed women peacekeepers is not solely because of the low contribution by developing countries.