United Nations peacekeepers

• India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj introduced the draft resolution titled ‘Memorial wall for fallen United Nations peacekeepers’ in the UN General Assembly Hall.

MEMORIAL WALL –

• The UN General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution introduced by India to establish a memorial wall in the UN Headquarters to honour fallen peacekeepers.
• The resolution was submitted by 18 countries including Bangladesh, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Nepal, Rwanda and the U.S.
• The resolution was co-sponsored by nearly 190 UN Member States and was adopted by consensus.
• In 2015, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN launched a virtual memorial wall, dedicated to the Indian troops who made the supreme sacrifice while doing active service as UN peacekeepers.
• The initiative was a precursor to the eventual construction of the Peacekeepers Memorial Wall.
• It is an appropriate way to commemorate all the troops from UN member states who had given their lives while on duty under the Blue Flag of the United Nations.

INDIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO UN PEACEKEEPING –

• India is currently the 3rd largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping with more than 6,000 military and police personnel.
• About 177 Indian peacekeepers have made the supreme sacrifice, the highest number by far from any troop-contributing country.