S Jaishankar chaired an open debate under the Indian Security Council presidency on UN peacekeeping
United Nations:
The UN Security Council, currently chaired by India, unanimously passed a resolution for the first time on Wednesday on ensuring accountability for crimes committed against UN peacekeepers, in addition to calling on member states that organize peacekeeping operations to bring down perpetrators. responsible for killing and committing acts of violence against the blue helmets.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar chaired an open debate under India’s Security Council presidency on UN peacekeeping operations on the theme of “Protecting the Guardians: Technology and Peacekeeping”, the second landmark event held as India defeated the mighty 15-strong UN presides over body for August.
During the meeting, two key outcome documents were unanimously adopted and overwhelmingly supported: a presidential statement on “peacekeeping and technology” and a resolution on “responsibility for crimes against UN peacekeepers”.
Under the Indian presidency, the Security Council unanimously adopted for the first time the resolution calling for accountability for crimes committed against UN peacekeepers.
In keeping with India’s focus on peacekeeping, the Presidential Declaration (PRST) in the UN Security Council was the first to be adopted to focus solely on using technology to assist peacekeepers.
The PRST encourages the use of modern technology to improve the performance, safety and security of peacekeepers operating in increasingly complex and risky environments.
Through the resolution, the Security Council calls on Member States that have or have hosted United Nations peacekeeping operations to take all appropriate measures, in accordance with their national law and international law, as applicable, to prevent the perpetrators of the killing and all acts of violence against United Nations personnel, including, but not limited to, their detention and kidnapping.”
This was the first such Security Council resolution calling for prevention, investigation and prosecution to bring the perpetrators to justice.
India initiated the first UN Security Council resolution this year, co-sponsored by all UN Security Council members and a total of more than 80 UN member states. the priority areas during his current Council presidency.
The resolution calls on all parties to armed conflict to fully respect their obligations under international law.
Calls on the host States to cooperate with peacekeeping missions to improve the safety and security of mission personnel and to take all necessary measures to investigate, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of such acts in accordance with their national law, in accordance with applicable international obligations, including under international humanitarian and international human rights law and in accordance with the relevant agreement on the status of armed forces or the status of mission, as applicable.”
It also calls on Member States that organize or have hosted UN peacekeeping operations to account for the killing of and all acts of violence against UN personnel serving in peacekeeping operations.
The resolution encourages Member States, including troop and police contributing countries whose personnel have been victims of the killing and all acts of violence against UN personnel, to actively engage and share information with the Secretary General, in accordance with their national law, as and where necessary to assist Member States organizing or having organized peacekeeping operations to bring the perpetrators of such acts to justice.
Through its presidential statement, the UN Security Council, noting that peacekeepers are deployed in deteriorating and complex political and security environments, and facing asymmetric and complex threats, including terrorism, “emphasizes the need to leverage the available technological tools to support greater situational awareness of peacekeeping missions”.
At the signature event, India in partnership with the UN also rolled out a unique technology platform aimed at enhancing the security and safety of peacekeepers.
The UNITE AWARE platform helps to increase situational awareness and provides terrain-related information to peacekeepers.
India partnered with the UN and contributed $1.64 million to the rollout of the UNITE Aware platform.
Addressing reporters at the Security Council observation after the open debate, Mr. Jaishankar said UNITE Aware is a situational awareness software program that will use modern surveillance technology for real-time threat assessments for peacekeepers and help them improve their security significantly.
This will have access to live video and satellite imagery and also provide early warnings to peacekeepers in highly unstable conditions.
He said that this platform will initially be deployed in four peacekeeping missions: MINUSMA (Mali), UNMISS (South Sudan), UNFICYP (Cyprus) and AMISOM (Somalia).
Through the UNITE Aware platform, the entire peacekeeping operation can be visualized, coordinated and monitored in real time, it will record data on critical incidents and events, track daily operational activities, access live video and satellite imagery and provide early warning in a volatile environment .
As part of India’s technology training and capacity building initiative, an MoU was signed between India and the UN in support of the Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping initiative and UN C4ISR – UN Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Academy for Peace Operations (UNCAP), based in Entebbe, Uganda.
The MoU was exchanged between India’s Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti and Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support Atul Khare in a solemn ceremony at the UN Peacekeepers Monument.
Mr. Jaishankar laid a wreath at the memorial and, together with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, paid tribute to the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives over the years while on military service.
Speaking at the ceremony, Guterres said more than a million men and women have served under the United Nations Blue Flag since 1948.
“More than 4,000 peacekeepers have lost their lives in the line of duty. Among them are 174 Indian peacekeepers, the highest number of any troop-contributing country. We are eternally grateful for their service. Their remarkable work and ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he said.
Addressing the open debate in his national capacity, Mr Jaishankar said: “It is this Council that sends peacekeepers across the continents to ‘keep the peace’ and carry out the mandate it decides. It is therefore the duty of this very exalted body to also ensure that we give them the means to carry out that mandate”.
“We demonstrated today, both in the rollout of the UNITE Aware Platform and through the actionable elements of the training included in the MoU, that India believes in making the speech when it comes to the safety and security of UN peace workers.
“We hope that in our discussions today we also get an equally strong confirmation of the intention of the UN,” added Mr Jaishankar.
Wednesday’s debate was the second signature event held under India’s presidency in August.
The first signature event chaired by India’s UN Security Council took place on August 9, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the high-level open debate on “Improving Maritime Security – A Matter for International Cooperation”. The third event on August 19 will be a high-level briefing on “Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts”.
