Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has highlighted the fast-evolving challenges being faced by the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers and stressed on the need to invest more in training, technology and resources for their safety and productivity.
He was addressing a special commemorative seminar organised by the Indian Army to celebrate 75 years of UN Peacekeeping, in New Delhi on June 13.
The minister also called for innovative approaches and enhanced cooperation among responsible nations to ensure safety and effectiveness of peacekeepers who are deployed in violence-hit regions.
He advocated a meaningful participation of women in peacekeeping operations, emphasising that their unique contribution during missions in conflict-affected areas must be recognised.
The minister reiterated the necessity to make the UN decisionmaking bodies, including the Security Council (UNSC), more reflective of demographic realities of the world.
“When India, the most populous nation, does not find a seat as permanent member of the UNSC, it tends to undermine the moral legitimacy of the UN. Therefore, the time has come for making the UN bodies more democractic and representative of the current realities of our age,” he said.
In his opening remarks, Army Chief General Manoj Pande highlighted India’s contribution to the cause of UN peacekeeping.