General Assembly Security Council

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Mr. President,
 
      At the outset India welcomes the reforms of the Peace and Security Architecture.  These reforms if implemented will ensure the accomplishment of HIPPO report as it will lead to a smooth transition of Peacekeeping operations to Special Political Missions and also promote Regional cooperation.
 
2. Coming to key questions posed in today's Working Group i.e. Firstly - How can we nurture trust between Council members and T/PCCs?
 
3. Today's peacekeeping operations pose complex challenges.  Non-state actors have become the major players in many of these conflicts. All the more Today's peacekeeping requires a political consensus among Security Council members, Troop Contributors and Secretariat on the cost, limits and dangers of operations in high-risk environments. However, we believe that this issue related to consensus requires more deliberation.
  
4. Resolution 2304 revising the UNMISS mandate last August and Resolution 2348 revising the MONUSCO mandate this year are cases in point.  
 
Mr. President,
 
5. Let me elaborate these two examples. The UNMISS mandate was adopted with little agreement within the Council itself; with little groundwork with the host Government and no effective consultations with the T/PCCs who have to implement it.  
 
6. The Council decided on a Regional Protection Force (RPF) comprising of 4000 troops to be based in Juba.  No inputs, feedback or consultation was carried out with the T/PCCs, who were in the knowhow of the actual ground situation.  
 
7. The fact remains that RPF was created to ensure free movements in and around Juba,  to protect the airport and UN POC sites but neither the RPF at Juba has been the holistic solution to the situation in South Sudan and nor has it been effective till date.
 
8. Similarly in MONUSCO, Security Council extended mandate of MONUSCO until 31 March 2018 with a drastic reduction of 3600 troops which is incompatible with the prevailing political and security challenges.   
 
Mr. President,
 
9. In addition, the Area of Responsibility of operations of the T/PCCs has been increased 4 to 5 times with a challenging mandate of Protection of Civilians, supporting the implementation of the 31 December 2016 agreement & the electoral process.  This also has been an unanimous decision taken by the Security Council without any consultation the T/PCCs operating in MONUSCO.
 
10. Presently there are at least 20 major Armed Groups (AGs) active in DRC  and the forthcoming elections add to this criticality due to limited capability to protect civilians during the run up to the elections.  
 
Mr. President,
 
11. Coming up to second question of the Working Group i.e. financing, I will again cite the example of MONUSCO.  
 
12. Earlier MONUC now MONUSCO is the longest running peacekeeping mission of the UN; but it has still failed to provide the basic amenities to the troops operating on the ground.  The unsatisfactory state of accommodation for troops in mission area is still a matter of concern.  More than 20 percent troops are living in tents. This requires an immediate attention as hardships being faced by the troops is adversely affecting operational efficiency of the contingents.  At the same time, we appreciate the initiatives taken up by Department of Field Support to include use of innovative technology, environmental management and various other measures as brought out by USG DFS in his briefing.
 
13. Therefore the Security Council needs to revisit the way mandates are designed.  The HIPPO and Brahimi Report had clearly highlighted this aspect that 'Expectations need to match the Capabilities ie Mandate should have resources to be fulfilled' else Peacekeeping missions will not be successful.   
 
Mr. President,
 
14. The current approach is not sustainable. It is a great irony that T/PCCs who provides their troops to execute the mandates and the troops on ground who lay down their lives to fulfill these mandates have no say in the process of formulation of the mandate.  
 
15. It is hence an inescapable requirement to incorporate the T/PCCs in the decision making/mandate formulation from the very onset and also ensure more effective triangular cooperation between the T/PCCs, Secretariat and Security Council on important policy/doctrinal issues being formulated in the field of peacekeeping. 
 
     Thank you, Mr. President.