General Assembly Security Council

Statement by Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Peacekeeping Operations: The United Nations and Regional Partnerships and its Evolution held on 28 July 2014
 

Mr. President,
 

1. Let me at the outset thank you for organizing todays debate on ‘Peace keeping Operations: The United Nations and Regional Partnerships and its Evolution .  We would also like to thank the Secretary General, the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service and the Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations for their briefing on this important topic. I would also like to thank you and your delegation for circulating a comprehensive concept note in context of the debate.
 

2. As the largest overall contributor of troops to the UN Peacekeeping operations (PKOs) having sent more than 170,000 Indian troops to 43 of the 69 UNPKOs mandated so far, India speaks with considerable experience in this field. With the changing nature of conflict, we have witnessed that there are new demands that have been placed on the PKOs. These new trends could be seen most in the African continent where we have the bulk of the PKOs.
 
Mr. President,
 

3. Africa has seen several PKOs which witnessed collaborations of non-UN third parties and regional organizations, including the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Through this debate, we are endeavoring to undertake a much needed stocktaking of the partnership between the United Nations and regional organizations in PKOs.
 

4. As mentioned in the concept note, we would concentrate on the following three aspects of the cooperation between the UN and the regional organization in context of the PKOs; political, operational and financial aspects.
 

Mr. President,
 

5. On the important political dimension, we have consistently emphasized that the new trend of the PKOs wherein there is a mixing of mandates, directly affects the operational effectiveness of the PKO and exposes traditional mandate peacekeepers to unnecessary threats from armed internal conflicts which the United Nations has not itself instigated.  We would like to point out that the dangers of using the UN peacekeepers to tackle what are essentially internal political conflicts. In doing so, the Council is effectively endorsing an unsustainable approach to the maintenance of international peace and security.
 

6. The concept note mentions about greater strategic guidance and support from the headquarters to provide effective command and control structure. However, these would be short term remedies to long-term unresolved political issues which the peacekeepers are unable to resolve. We do agree that once there is a structured mechanism of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, it would be useful to strengthen it and focus on replacing adhoc mechanisms with tested permanent mechanisms which would be more predictable. We believe that regional organizations, which are composed of member states of the United Nations, must advocate and apply the same principles of the United Nations Charter for PKO, which currently apply to mainstream UN PKOs.
 

Mr. President,
 

7. The second aspect of the cooperation between UN and the Regional Organizations pertain to the operational aspect. It has been our experience that investment in equipments, logistics and training go a long way in making the PKOs more viable and sustainable. It would be in the direction of strengthening the PKOs having more than one contributor if we are able to improve logistical support to the mission. We agree that proper planning holds the key to a successful implementation of the mandate of the joint operations which would require more coordination of the efforts of two organizations working for a common objective. It is also important to put the right emphasis on the capacity building aspect of these regional organizations which would be useful in tackling the conflicts in their region. In addition, it is also important to have a clear cut exit strategy for these peacekeeping operations so that reference of the time frame is clear to all.
 

8. The final aspect mentioned in the concept note pertains to the financial issue which is one of the critical factors of the PKO. In this regard, we would like to mention that there are cases of transition of a regional organization led PKO to a UN PKO. The most recent of these is case of the Central African Republic where, through the adoption of Resolution 2149, a UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) was created, which would be effective from September 25, 2014. The transitions require careful financial planning. The importance of having concrete views on the issue of financial collaboration cannot be overstated.
 

9. With the emergence of multidimensional  mandates, we have a situation of new mandates of UNPKOs without providing for matching financial resources. In this regard, we would like to bring to attention of the Council that after intense negotiations between the TCCs on one hand and the Finance Contributing Countries on the other hand, 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 costs survey recommended by the Senior Advisory Group. The larger issue of financial imbalance must be taken into account when we look at the issue of the providing sustainable and predictable financial support to the joint peacekeeping operations.
 

Mr. President,
 

10. In conclusion, we call on the Council to engage with troop contributing countries under Article 44 while drafting new multidimensional mandates of the UNPKOs.  In addition, we would like to reiterate that in accordance with the UN Charter, we must make sure that  all attempts at the pacific settlement of disputes set out in Article 52 have been exhausted by the Member States belonging to regional arrangements or regional agencies before the Council is asked to approve new PKOs by regional organizations.
 

I thank you, Mr. President.
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