Statement by Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Mr Rahul Kaswan, at the Thematic Debate on Agenda Item 56 - Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peacekeeping Operations in all their aspects at the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (Fourth Committee) of the UN General Assembly on November 4, 2015

Mr. Chairman,

I thank you for organizing this debate on the Comprehensive Review of the Whole Question of Peacekeeping Operations in all their aspects. This is an important follow up to the report of the Secretary General No. A/70/357 titled 'The report of the United Nations Peace Operations: Implementation of the recommendations of the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO)' as well as the HIPPO report. I would like to align my statement to the statement made by the delegation of Morocco on behalf of the Non- Aligned Movement.

2. We have shared our views on this issue recently at the General Assembly on 12 October. Our views on this topic are based on our experience in both peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations of the United Nations. We are proud to be the largest cumulative troop contributor to UN peace operations, with over 185,000 troops having served in 48 of the 69 missions mandated so far.

Mr. Chairman,

3. As far the peacekeeping operations are concerned, we are of the view that the most important issue is the way in which the mandates for peace operations are formulated by the UN Security Council. We have raised the issue of the opaque manner in which the Security Council continues to mandate peace operations, without any accountability or transparency. The HIIPO report has referred to trilateral consultations among the Secretariat, UN Security Council and the Troop Contributing Countries. We would, however, like to suggest that direct and formal consultations between the TCCC and the Security Council during mandate formulation and change is a sine qua non for an effective peacekeeping operation. This would also be in the spirit of the Article 44 of the UN Charter. Article 44 clearly calls on the Security Council to invite Member States not represented in the Council to 'participate in the decisions of the Security Council concerning the employment of contingents of that Member's armed forces', this never happens in actual practice. It is not only the formulation of the mandates but also the change of the mandates mid-stream which is a source of concern for us.

4. We have witnessed the proclivity of the Security Council to mix the traditional original mandate given to the UNPKOs subsequently with a new interventionist mandate for a small portion of the troops in the same peacekeeping operation. We have already experienced this with regard to the MONUSCO operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo mandate given by UNSCR 2098 of March 2013. India currently contributes more than 4000 troops to MONUSCO and hence we have concerns on this important issue.

5. In fact, the Secretary General in his report on the HIPPO recommendations has conveyed that sustained dialogue between the Council, the Secretariat and contributors is essential for shared understanding of appropriate responses and their implications for the mandate and conduct of a peace operation. He has further stated that this dialogue should begin before the establishment of the mission. My delegation strongly supports this.

6. We take note of the report of the Secretary General in which he has proposed three pillars for conducting UN peace operations with a 'renewed focus on prevention and mediation; stronger regional-global partnerships; and new ways of planning and conducting United Nations peace operations to make them faster, more responsive and more accountable to the needs of countries and people in conflict'. Of these, we are of the view that primacy must be given to the pacific settlement of disputes as the core objective of UN peace operations, as set out in the UN Charter.

Mr. Chairman,

7. We have been stressing at various peacekeeping debates at the UN about the new demands that have been placed on the PKOs with the changing nature of conflicts. We would like to urge to the United Nations and specially the Security Council to ensure a mandatory inclusion in all UNPKO mandates of legally binding provisions for prosecuting, penalizing and neutralizing any non-governmental armed groups and armed militias causing, or threatening to cause, harm to UNPKOs.

8. The SG's report and the HIPPO Panel rightly recognize that 'a United Nations peace operation is not designed or equipped to impose political solutions through sustained use of force', and UN peace operations are not the appropriate tool for military counter-terrorism operations. We endorse this recommendation, as UN peacekeepers are not suitable for targeted offensive action against armed militias, non-state actors and terrorists.

9. Peacekeeping has been a critical tool of the United Nation in maintaining international peace and security. While the multidimensional peacekeeping is a reality, we still firmly believe that the core values of UN peacekeeping including the Principles of consent, impartiality, and non-use of force except in very limited circumstances remains completely relevant. However, we urge a review of the current allocation of resources within UN peace operations, to support political efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement of conflicts. This would considerably mitigate the growing resource constraint faced by UN peace operations.

10. The Secretary General in his report has reaffirmed his commitment to inform and brief the Security Council of situations of escalating risk for civilians or serious shortfalls in the capability of missions to fulfil protection mandates. This is a welcome step. As troop contributing countries, we look forward to participating in such briefings in an interactive manner. UN peacekeepers are not only the UN's boots on the ground, but also the UN's eyes and ears, and the Security Council can only benefit from the ground level assessments which troop contributing countries can provide in direct interaction between member states. Such interaction will contribute to a more effective implementation of the mandate for protection of civilians (POC). This is why we call for Article 44 of the Charter to be implemented in letter and spirit.

Mr. Chairman,

11. Based on our experience, it is our view that investment in equipments, logistics and training go a long way in making the PKOs more viable and sustainable. With the emergence of 'multidimensional' mandates, we have new mandates of UNPKOs without matching financial resources. In this regard, we would like to mention that the GA decided a new rate of USD 1322 for the peacekeeping years starting from 1st July 2014 as against the USD 1762.55 per person per month suggested by the Troop Cost Survey recommended by the Senior Advisory Group. This certainly represents an increase but is also far from being adequate. There is an urgent need to offset the mismatch between the requirement of the resources and the actual allocated resources.

Mr. Chairman,

12. Another serious issue pertains to sexual exploitation and abuse which continues to shame our Organization. Such abuse scars the lives of men, women and children. We take such cases with utmost seriousness. We would like to strongly suggest that the United Nations must apply one standard, that of zero tolerance,while dealing with all cases of sexual exploitation and abuse in all its field operations, whether these be peacekeeping, peacebuilding or others.

Mr. Chairman,

13. During the recently concluded Leaders' Summit held on 28 September, 2015 in New York, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India announced an increase of 10% of our troop contribution to existing or new operations, an additional 3 police units with higher representation of female peacekeepers, a commitment to provide critical enablers, deployment of technical personnel in UN Mission, and additional training for peacekeepers at our facilities in India and in the field. These commitments show that India is willing to walk the talk when it comes to supporting UN peace operations.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.