NEW DELHI — India, one of the largest troop contributors to United Nations peacekeeping operations, is hosting a conclave of senior military leaders from over 30 countries participating in these missions globally this week.
The three-day conclave of the army chiefs of the U.N. troop contributing countries will kick off in New Delhi from Tuesday, with Algeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, France, Italy, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Vietnam among the countries expected to take part.
“It is indeed a unique forum where collective experience, wisdom and commitment of militaries and nations will converge to deliberate on shared responsibilities of the international community toward maintaining peace under the United Nations Charter,” Lt. Gen. Rakesh Kapoor, India’s deputy chief of the army staff in charge of information systems and training, said at a curtain raiser event earlier this month.
“The aim of this conclave is to share best practices, share perspectives and share capacities for reckonable peacekeeping operations,” he said.
Responding to questions at the same event about possible deployment of peacekeepers in Ukraine and Gaza, Vishwesh Negi, joint secretary in charge of international cooperation in India’s Ministry of Defence, told reporters that the Indian peacekeepers will be deployed in the U.N.-mandated missions which have the clearance of the U.N. Security Council. But he added, “It is highly unlikely, given the composition of the U.N Security Council, that you’ll have a U.N. peacekeeping force being deployed either in Ukraine or in Gaza.”
“Whenever our troops get deployed overseas … we only do it under the United Nations’ flag,” Lt. Gen. Kapoor said. “And I’m sure many of the troop contributing countries also follow similar principles,”
Local media reports stated that China and Pakistan have not been invited to the conclave, reflecting India’s tense ties with the neighboring nations. Hosts of the conclave did not respond to a Nikkei Asia query seeking confirmation of these reports.
One of the African countries’ representatives participating in the conclave — who preferred not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media — said that the forum would contribute to strengthening of the U.N. peacekeeping operations. “India’s role is commendable as it is taking the lead in bringing together military leadership of many key countries, including from the Global South, to discuss very important matters pertaining to the U.N. peacekeeping missions,” the representative said.
The conclave follows India organizing a conference on women peacekeepers from 35 Global South nations in February, which discussed the evolving role of women in U.N. missions and strategies to enhance their participation.
In the past 75 years, India has contributed over 290,000 peacekeepers to U.N. operations. More than 5,000 Indian peacekeepers are currently deployed in nine missions.
“India is convening this conclave to provide a high-level forum for sharing best practices, fostering common understanding and creating a collaborative approach to chart out the future trajectory of peacekeeping,” a Ministry of Defence statement said on Oct. 1.
The article was published in the asia.nikkei