General Assembly Security Council

UNSC Open Debate on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace: Investing in people to enhance resilience against complex challenges[Thursday, 26 January 2023]

Statement

Mr. President, 

 

Let me begin by thanking Japan for organizing today’s open debate. I also wish to thank the briefers- Deputy Secretary General Ms. Amina Mohammed., Chair of Peace Building Commission (PBC), PR of Bangladesh Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, and the civil society briefer for their insights on the topic.

 

  1.  In the recent years, the international community has come to better grasp the complex and inter-linked facets of peacebuilding. Our perspective on addressing conflicts has undergone a paradigmatic shift: from resolution, reconciliation, and recovery to prevention and reconstruction. A comprehensive approach focusing on sustainable development, inclusive economic growth, and political processes forms an integral part of our responses to conflict situations today

 

  1.  India, as a leading Troops and Police contributing country to the UN peace-keeping operations and a founding member of the PBC, has the following observations to make with regard to the topic of the open debate today: 

 

  1. First, we need to recognize the primacy of national Governments and authorities in identifying and driving priorities, strategies, and activities for sustaining peace. What is needed is to work closely with Member States - in line with their national requirement and needs, rather than advocate prescriptions and solutions from outside. Inclusivity in advancing national peacebuilding objectives is imperative.

  2. Second, forging social cohesion and trust in governance institutions in divided societies is easier said than done. But this is indispensable to ensure that conflict-ravaged societies do not relapse into chaos. Efforts to this end need to factor in complex layers of post-conflict scenarios and the local context.

  3. Third, as the world’s largest democracy, we are convinced that representative, inclusive and resilient governance structures will help stabilize in securing peace, safeguarding fundamental rights and protecting rule of law. These, in turn, make governance transparent, responsive and people-centric. We need to encourage such governance structures in countries in conflict settings. This also requires giving them both the time and space they need to deliver efficiently. (Comment: too many ideas; so for making it more comprehensible have edited)

  4. Fourth, gender sensitivity and inclusivity in governance and security sector strengthen nation building. Similarly, creating an environment that provides opportunities for youth to grow out of conflict are equally critical.

  5. Fifth, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding are mutually exclusive. Attempts to extend the role of peacekeeping missions to peacebuilding tasks would strengthen neither; instead would end up weakening both. The military component of peacekeeping can only play an enabling role but cannot, on its own, bring about peacebuilding.

  6. Sixth, there is an urgent need for predictable and sustainable financing for peacebuilding efforts to be more effective. However, any decision to that effect must be consensus-based. 

 

  1.  India has always played a constructive and significant role in the context of peacebuilding through our extensive development partnership, both bilaterally and multilaterally, with countries in the Global South. The India-UN Development Partnership Fund which was established in 2017 has grown in a short span of last 5 years to a portfolio of 66 development projects in partnership with 51 developing countries, including 17 member states from Africa. For Africa, India has committed concessional loans of over US$ 12 billion to various developmental projects since 2015.

 

  1.  India will continue to be a force multiplier for all peacebuilding efforts, particularly building resilient institutions for an effective and enduring response to conflict situations.

 

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