3.1.

Introduction:

The membership of India to the United Nations is also one of the

principles of the India's foreign policy. India was among the original members
of the United Nations that signed the Declaration of United Nations at
Washington on 1st January 1942 and also participated in the historic UN
Conference of International Organization at San Francisco from 25th April to
26thJune 1945. Independent India viewed its membership at the United Nations
as an important guarantee for maintaining international peace and security at
the height of the Cold War especially by working towards eliminating the
causes of war and conflict. UN membership has also served as an opportunity
for leadership in world affairs. India stood at the forefront during the UN's
tumultuous years of struggle against colonialism and apartheid, its struggle
towards global disarmament and the ending of the arms race, and towards the
creation of a more equitable international economic order.

India believes that the United Nations must undertake reforms that will
make it truly representative while enhancing its credibility and effectiveness. In
particular, the composition of the Security Council needs to change thereby
reflecting contemporary realities. The United Nations must play an active role
in ensuring inclusive growth within nations, and inclusive globalization across
nations. This calls for, in the short-term a new international initiative to bring
structural reform in the world‟s financial system with more effective regulation
and stronger systems of multilateral consultations and surveillance as well as a
collaborative and cooperative global effort for successfully overcoming climate
change that leads to an outcome that is fair and equitable while recognizing the
principle that each citizen of the world has equal entitlement to the global
atmospheric space. India also believes that the UN should play an active role in
ensuring genuine global counter-terrorism cooperation, in particular, the

61
conclusion of the continuing negotiations on a Comprehensive Convention on
International Terrorism.

The UN has in fact played a key role in preserving world peace by

helping in the decolonization process, by providing humanitarian and
developmental assistance and through peacekeeping. India has always viewed
UN as a vehicle for peace and for peaceful change in world politics. India has
contributed to UN significantly on disarmament in terms of ideas, resolutions,
initiatives and bridging differences through action plans. In 1948, India had
proposed limiting the use of atomic energy to peaceful purposes and
elimination of nuclear weapons from national arsenals. In 1950, India
suggested formation of a UN Peace Fund created through peaceful reduction of
arms and directing the amount thus released towards development purposes. In
1954, India advocated the cause for a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty.
India was the first to become party to partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963. In 1964,
India took the initiative to place the item 'non-proliferation of weapons' on UN
agenda.

To support the ideology of the United Nations and to actively and

constructively support its activities has been an important principle of Indian
foreign policy. In other words, Indian foreign policy has been firmly
committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. The
similarities in principles and objectives of the UN Charter and India‟s foreign
policy are listed as under1:

62
 Sl. United Nations Charter: India’s Foreign Policy:
No. Principles and Objectives Principles and Objectives
1 To maintain international peace and Solving conflicts by peaceful
security and to that end, take means, adhering to the principle
effective collective measures for the of Panchasheela, i.e., i) Mutual
prevention and removal of threats to respect for each other‟s
peace and for the suppression of acts territorial integrity and
of aggression or other breaches of sovereignty,
peace and resolve conflict through ii) Non-aggression
peaceful means in conformity with iii) Non-intervention in each
the principles of justice, other‟s domestic affairs.
international law. iv) Mutual benefits and
Adjustment or settlement of equality and
international disputes or situations v) Peaceful - coexistence
which might lead to a breach of the cooperation with all peace
peace. loving nations and the United
Nations for promoting for
international peace and
prosperity.
2 To develop friendly relations among The opposition to imperialism
nations based on respect for the colonialism and respect equality
principle of equal rights, and the of all nations. To maintain
right of self determination of people friendly relations with all and
and take other appropriate measures close relations with neighbours,
to strengthen the Universal Peace. support for world peace.
3 To achieve international cooperation Opposition to racial and social
in solving international problems of discrimination and
economic, social, cultural or neocolonialism and maintain
humanitarian character and in good relations and to cooperate
promoting and encouraging respect with all countries
for human rights, and for
fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction to race, sex,
language or religion and
4 To be a center for harmonizing the Support for United Nations
actions of all nations in the actions with respect to threats to
attainment of these common ends. peace, breaches of peace and acts
of aggression.

63
3.2. India and the United Nations:

India is actively participating and cooperating in the activities of United

Nations and major areas of cooperation are as under.

1. India's Contribution to UN Efforts for Peace and Disarmament:

Since independence, India has consistently pursued the objective of

global disarmament based on the principles of non-discrimination. Given the
destructive capacity of nuclear weapons, India has always believed that a world
free of nuclear weapons would enhance global security. Thus, India has always
advocated that highest priority be given to nuclear disarmament as a first step
towards general and complete disarmament.

India has contributed to UN significantly on disarmament in terms of

ideas, resolutions, initiatives and bridging differences through action plans. In
1948, India had proposed limiting the use of atomic energy to peaceful
purposes and elimination of nuclear weapons from national arsenals. In 1950,
India suggested formation of a UN Peace Fund created through peaceful
reduction of arms and directing the amount thus released towards development
purposes. In 1964, India took the initiative to place the item 'non-proliferation
of weapons' on UN agenda.

In 1984, India launched a Six-Nation Five Continent Peace Initiative

along with Argentina, Greece, Mexico, Sweden and Tanzania. Four years later
(in a joint declaration issued on the occasion of visit of President Gorbachev of
Soviet Union the then, Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi made a forceful
plea for the elimination of nuclear weapons. The Delhi Declaration enumerated
ten principles for building a nuclear weapon free world). In 1988, Rajiv
Gandhi proposed an Action Plan for ushering in a nuclear weapon free and
non-violent world order. The Action Plan envisaged a binding commitment by

64
all nations to the elimination of nuclear weapons in stages by 2010. India is
also an original signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, having signed
it on Jan. 14, 1993 and was among the first 65 countries to have ratified the
treaty. In 1993, India sponsored a resolution on Comprehensive Test Ban along
with the US within the overall framework of advancing towards nuclear
disarmament. India was distressed when final version of the CTBT
(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty) was rushed through without consensus. And
it failed to address the security reasons of India. As such, India opposed the
CTBT as some of the tests were not allowed. Many countries have initially
misunderstood India‟s tests as a negative development for disarmament; India
pledged to continue to work for inaugural and non-discriminatory nuclear
disarmament.

2. India as Supporter of Human Rights in the UN:

India is a strong supporter of the UN efforts for protection of human

rights. Ever since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948, India has cooperated in
implementation of human rights related decisions and resolutions. The two
human rights covenants have received India's wholehearted support. The
Constitution of India, enacted in 1949, incorporated most of the human rights
either as fundamental rights or as directive principles of stale policy. Wherever
there is violation of human rights, India has raised its voice against such
violation.

3. Support from UN for Development of India:

Gender inequality has been, and still is, a major global problem. As the
Beijing Declaration of the Fourth World Conference on Women, 1995, noted,
“Women comprise about half the world‟s population, perform about two-third
of its work, receive only one-tenth of its income, and own less than one-
hundredth of world assets”. This is pathetic. The Conference declared, “We

65
reaffirm our commitment to ensure full implementation of the human rights of
women and of the girl child as inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all
human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Over the years, several U.N.
agencies have been supporting programmes to improve the quality of life for
women in India, and more than 100 other countries. The most significant
contributions for gender equality and mainstreaming women into development
has been made by the U.N. agency UNIFEM (United Nations Development
Fund for Women). It has been working in association with UNDP and several
non-governmental organizations in India. For example, SEWA (Self-Employed
Women‟s Association) in India has been dealing with the problem of home
workers (domestic help). It has also set up social security schemes for the
unorganized women workers. ILO has been supporting both these activities.

An important issue being addressed to in India is to empower women by

the Panchayati Raj System. The Government of India, assisted by UNDP and
UNICEF (United Nations Children‟s Fund) has initiated massive country-wide
training programme to equip about 8,00,000 women members of the
Panchayats to manage local government effectively and transform them into
effective agents of social change. Once considered "invisible" in the economy,
women today are an important percentage of the country's workforce. Women's
economic contribution was more accurately reflected in the 1991 census. The
agencies such as UNFPA, WHO and UNICEF are working in India in the fields
of maternal health, female contraception and populations initiatives.

In India, UNDP implements its largest country programme spending abut

40 million U.S. dollars per year in assistance. Its assistance supports activities
related to areas such as technology transfer for increased industrial
productivity, agricultural development, energy and environment, transport,
communication and social infrastructure.

66
 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been supporting projects in
agricultural sector including support of agricultural education, advance
research including modern biotechnologies, hybrid rice production, plant
quarantine facilities, integrated pest management, long-term support to desert
locust control, and technical assistance to National Dairy Development and for
increasing milk production. In the forestry sector, FAO supports forestry
research and education. It also assists State Forest Departments on human
resource development, and to meet the objectives of forest conservation and
management. FAO was supporting in 1995 the implementation of 48 projects,
including 27 UNDP funded projects. It organizes recruitment of Indian
specialists for FAO assignments in other countries, and placement of fellows
from other countries for training in Indian institutions. FAO has made very
valuable contribution in helping India in boosting of agricultural production in
the country. As against production of only 50 million tonnes of food grains in
1950 the country had achieved a record production of 189 million tonnes by
1994-95. India now ranks second in the world in wheat and rice production and
first in the production of ground nuts.

Another agency that has an important mandate is the World Health

Organisation (WHO). It directs and coordinates international health work
within the family of the United Nations. The WHO has divided itself into six
regional offices. Its South-East Asia Regional Office situated in New Delhi
promotes health care in 10 countries including India, Myanmar, Indonesia,
Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. In this region small pox has been
eradicated as part of global programme. There are no longer sweeping
epidemics like cholera, plague and malaria. With the active support of WHO,
India has aimed at health for all by 2000 A.D. It has taken up massive
programme to control and fight HIV/AIDS problems. India remains a very
active, strong and special partner of WHO. A number of Indian specialists are
serving as member of WHO Advisory Panels, Boards and Global Committees.

67
A large number of foreign fellows continue to receive training in Indian
medical institutes.

The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)

established in 1969 works under the guidance of the ECOSOC. It is the largest
international funded source of population assistance world wide. It helps
various governments in designing and implementation of their population
programmes. UNFPA has supported India in population activities since 1974.
During the 1991-95 period its programme in India, providing assistance of
nearly 90 million U.S. dollars was (i) upgrading the capacity as well as the
qualfty of health and family welfare services in states with high birth, death and
infant mortality rate; (ii) increasing self-reliance in production of
contraceptives, (iii) to help strengthen and intensify information and awareness
in support of population programmes; (iv) consolidating achievements in
population education; and (v) enhancing women's status by improving their
literacy, promoting employment and income generating opportunities in
selected areas2. The major thrust of UNFPA in India is reproductive health
including family planning and sexual health. Its programme includes emphasis
on gender equality and empowerment of women.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO) is an important specialized agency of the UN system. It is mainly
concerned with education. In the field of science and technology, UNESCO
seeks to respond to the needs expressed by Member-states. It recognizes
importance of communication for development. It also ensures translation of
certain master pieces of world literature and recording of traditional music
from all regions of the world. The New Delhi office of UNESCO covers 11
countries of South and Central Asia including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Maldives,
Nepal and Myanmar in the field of education, 'Learning Without Barriers' is a
major step taken to help lower the barriers to education and to create an open

68
flexible learning environment. UNESCO office in New Delhi has given special
attention to education of girls and women, distance education and open
schooling. It provides funds and assistance for the preservation of tangible and
intangible heritage to protect the Indian culture. The Constitution of UNESCO
declares that, “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men
that the defences of peace must be constructed”3. It is with this aim in view that
the UNESCO concentrates on proper education for all round development of
personality of the children as well as adults. To achieve Education for All
(EFA) in India, more than 20 million children in 6-14 age group (of whom 60
per cent are girls) must be reached by the end of twentieth century. To achieve
this aim, UN agencies including UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO, UNICEF and the
World Bank are assisting India in her efforts to reach her literacy and education
targets.

4. India’s Efforts for Permanent Seat in UN Security Council:

Since the UN Charter came into force in 1945, there have only five
permanent members (P-5) in the Security Council and each had the power to
veto decisions of a majority of other members. Three of the five are European,
representing about ten percent of humanity, while only one is Asian,
representing more than 30 per cent of humanity. From its inception, all power
in the UN came to be concentrated in the Security Council, specifically with
the P-5 who were given the power to veto. After the increase in size to 15 in
1963, the Security Council was seen increasingly as a body of five plus ten
members4.

When the United Nations was formed in 1945, Mahatma Gandhi felt that
India, which then included Pakistan and Bangladesh, should become a veto-
wielding member of the Security Council. However, British India was moving
towards partition at the time and Indian leaders were focused on gaining
independence, passing up the opportunity India had of gaining a permanent

69
seat5. Like most newly independent nations, India joined as a member of the
UN General Assembly, submitting resolutions to the Security Council in this
capacity.

The 1960s and 1970s seemed to be worse decades for India‟s relations
with the Security Council. Following China's first nuclear test in 1964, India
rushed to the UN seeking a disarmament treaty. Instead, New Delhi was
targeted with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India intervened in the
crisis of East Pakistan in 1971, claiming that it was trying to end one of the
world's biggest genocides6. India got little support from the UN. Only a Soviet
veto prevented the UN imposing sanctions on India for its intervention.

At the very first session of the UN, India had raised its voice against
colonialism and apartheid and as decolonization began to change the face of the
world, India positioned itself as the Third World or Non-Aligned voice on the
Council. India hoped that the UN system would be democratized by the „trade
union of decolonized nations‟. However, despite drafting numerous resolutions
on transforming the world in the 1970s and 1980s, India's early vision was far
from being realized. Although the P-5 are nuclear powers, the fact that India is
a nuclear power is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, being a nuclear
power seems to add to India's legitimacy of gaining a permanent seat. The
easiest argument in favour of India becoming a member of the Security Council
is demography. India is the second most populous country in the world
comprising almost 1/5 of humanity; this fact in itself merits representation.
Moreover, India is also the largest functional democracy: this fits into the
urgent need for democratizing the Council. India has also participated in all
initiatives of the UN and UN organs, as well as on discussions on the Agenda
for Peace and the Agenda for Development. India supported the establishment
of UNICEF on a permanent basis, the creation of UNDP, the establishment of

70
UNEP, the restructuring of the UN in economic and social fields and is
currently supporting the UN Development Fund.

It was suggested by the UN Secretary-General Dr. Boutros-Ghali in

August 1992 that, five more countries be made permanent members. The
countries suggested by him were: India, Brazil, Germany, Japan and Nigeria.
He made this suggestion after Japan informed the US and other countries that it
should be given a permanent seat in the Security Council within next three
years. Immediately after that, German Foreign Minister declared his country‟s
intention to stake its claim to a permanent seat. Meanwhile, India made a call to
make the UN more effective and democratic. Syria‟s Vice-President supported
India‟s call in August 1992 and even suggested scrapping off the veto power.
He argued that the Council was not properly representative as Asia having half
of world's population had only one country, China, as permanent member.
Since then the issue has remained open. India felt that besides economic
potential and military power, the size and population of a country as well as its
standing in the region must be given due weightage while deciding on increase
in the permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

India believes its permanent membership of the Council would moderate

the arbitrariness of the present permanent members in decision-making matters,
particularly to do with international peace and security. Indeed, India wants to
be involved in the steering and have a say in these matters. India is keen to see
an empowered UN that can take on the world policeman role, which some feel
seems to have been usurped by US unilateralism at the present time. Moreover,
India sees itself as the champion of the developing world and is keen to
establish development as central to the UN‟s agenda to maximize the chances
for peace and restrain extravagant abuse in the Security Council in increasingly
volatile global circumstances, the smaller member states of the UN should

71
work towards India‟s early entry into the Security Council as a permanent
member with veto power.

3.3. Peace Keeping Operations:

One of the ways in which the UN can maintain international peace and
security is through peacekeeping. The demand for peacekeeping has increased
dramatically in the post-Cold War era. The end of the Cold War brought
opportunities but also challenges to the international community. The post-
Cold War conflicts have assumed a new character. Consequently, the means of
peacekeeping are also the subject of profound changes.

Peacekeeping operation is amongst the volatile issues in the

contemporary debate on the role and activities of United Nations. The United
Nations uses the peacekeeping operation as a fire-fighting device, sent to the
crisis situations in various corners of the world. It was an innovative method
devised by accident rather than by design to deal with the impasse created by
the Cold War between the two Superpowers. It began as an unambitious system
in 1948 to deal with inter-state conflicts and by late 20th century, it has become
a much sought after means to contain, calm and resolve intra-state disputes7.
The changed circumstances provided a conducive opportunity to finish the
unfinished task of resolving some of the remaining inter-state conflicts of the
Cold War period. Meanwhile, ethnic cleavages that remained suppressed
during the cold-war period erupted, leading to civil war situations and
secession movements.

In the early years of the existence of the United Nations therefore, while
the use of military personnel on a large scale, and under the exact terms of the
Charter, was being discussed with diminishing prospect of agreement,
experiments in using them on a far smaller scale evolved almost by accident.
Small groups of unarmed military observers formed part of the United Nations

72
missions in Greece in 1947, in West Asia and India/Pakistan in 1949, this
became a regular feature of United Nations peacekeeping missions and
continues to this day, even in missions where armed military contingents are
deployed8.

Ramesh Thakur9 in his research paper published in „Emerging

Challenges in UN Peacekeeping Operations: An Indo-Japanese Dialogue‟
edited by Dipankar Banerjee and Ramesh Thakur (2006) described that terms
like „peacekeeping‟, „peace support operations‟, and „peace operations‟ are
used generically to refer to missions and operations that fall short of military
combat between clearly recognizable enemies. Peacekeeping has been one of
the most visible symbols of the UN role in international peace and security.
The history of UN peacekeeping is a mirror to the record of the organization‟s
own evolution: the initial high hopes, the many frustrations on the ground and
the sometimes bitter disappointments in the end. Another thread that is
common to both the UN and its peacekeeping ventures is the failure of states to
make full use of the international machinery available to them for the
avoidance of war and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

As it evolved over the years, peacekeeping became an extraordinary art

because it called for the use of the military personnel not to wage war, but to
prevent fighting between belligerents, to ensure the maintenance of cease-fires
and to provide a measure of stability in an area of conflict while negotiations
were conducted. To that extent, it is important to distinguish between the
concept of “collective security” and peacekeeping in the international
environment. Whereas the former is a punitive process designed to be carried
out with some degree of discrimination, but not necessarily impartially, the
latter is politically impartial and essentially non-coercive. Hence peacekeeping
was and has, always been, based on a triad of principles that give it legitimacy
as well as credibility, namely, consent of the parties to the conflict,

73
impartiality) of the peacekeepers and the use of force by lightly/ armed
peacekeepers only in self-defence10. The premise on which international
peacekeeping is based is that violence in inter-state and intra-state conflict can
be controlled without resort to the use of force or enforcement measures.

As stated by Leonard Kapungu, peacekeeping is not in the Charter of the

United Nations. The then, Secretary-General, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali stated
in his „Agenda for Peace‟ that peacekeeping was an invention of the United
Nations. It was a concept invented out of necessity. It was a concept that was
meant to create space and time in order to allow the parties in a conflict to
settle their disputes. It was a mechanism to assist the peacemaking efforts of
the United Nations or the international community11.

The term „peacekeeping‟ was first used by UN Secretary-General Dag

Hammarskjold to describe the first UN Emergence Force (UNEF-I), consisting
of some 5,000 lightly armed observers who were sent to the Sinai in 1956 to be
positioned between Egypt and Israel after the two countries had reached an
agreement to end the war between them12. It has evolved over 40 years into a
wide variety of internationally authorized, limited military operations
accompanied by diplomatic efforts for peaceful objectives. Between 1948 and
1988 there were 13 UN peacekeeping operations. It is highlighted from the
United Nation‟s web site that total 71 peacekeeping operations were
undertaken by United Nations in different parts of the world and of which, still
many are continued to achieve peace and normal life13.

Peacekeeping as stated by Bowett, sometimes easier to say that a

particular mission or force does not possess the generally recognized
characteristics of a peacekeeping operation, than it is to confirm that it fulfils
the necessary criteria14. Part of the reason for this is the looseness with which
states adopt such terms. It has a distinctly positive resonance, and those
charged with the government of states are usually more concerned with public

74
relations and opinion polls than with legal criteria or political reality15. For this
reason, the term is often applied to controversial situations where states
intervene militarily and then seek to justify or portray their actions as some
kind of benign peacekeeping operation.

Former UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros Ghali16 defined

peacekeeping as “the deployment of a United Nations presence in the field,
hitherto with the consent of all the parties concerned, normally involving
United Nations military and/or police personnel and frequently civilians as
well. Peacekeeping is an activity that expands the possibilities for both the
prevention of conflict and the making of peace”.

As described in „The Peacekeeper‟s Handbook‟17 The term

„peacekeeping‟ has been used to describe a variety of internal security
situations in which military police forces have been involved- mostly in an
enforcement capacity. However, peacekeeping is essentially a third party
initiative by means of which an uncommitted, non-aligned „agent‟ can keep
two or more hostile states or communities apart. Since there is a tendency to
misinterpret the true sense of the world „peacekeeping‟ and to misunderstand
the role and responsibilities of those who carry out peacekeeping duties, it is
important that peacekeeping in the context of United Nations operations should
be clearly defined. It is not possible to quote an authoritative UN interpretation
as the UN has never formulated an exact definition for peacekeeping. There is,
however, a clear cut definition which is appropriate and specific enough for use
in the manual. It defines international peacekeeping as- “the prevention,
containment, moderation and termination of hostilities between or within
states, through the medium of a peaceful third party intervention organized and
directed internationally, using multinational forces of soldiers, police and
civilians to restore and maintain peace”18.

75
 Exhaustive definition of UN peacekeeping is provided by Nadege
Sheehan19 as “Peacekeeping operations can be defined as the use of
multinational military personnel under international command, mandated and
legitimized by the UN Security Council, to control and solve, civil, conflicts
inside a country, or wars between states, generally with the consent of the
parties. They consist of multidimensional and multi-task operations aimed at
detecting and dealing with potential conflicts (conflict prevention), at bringing
parties to an agreement (peace-making), at resolving ongoing conflicts
(peacekeeping stricto sensu), and at managing post-conflict situations in
countries coming out of crisis (peace-building). Thus, peacekeeping considers
that peace is linked to development, and that development is essential to
conflict resolution. It involves security efforts (military and police), justice
development (observation of laws, human rights), political reorganization
(political affairs, democracy) and economic reconstruction. Peacekeeping
operations seek the social-and economic development of nations in crisis
through the undertaking of post-conflict activities of demobilization and
reintegration of ex-fighters, the disarmament of belligerents, the training of
local police, the organization and monitoring of elections, the establishment of
good governance, and the promotion of economic recovery and development
through human security”.

As discussed in the previous pages, the United Nations (UN) was

established on 24th October 1945 in the aftermath of Second World War and
was dedicated, in the enduring words of the UN Charter, to saving succeeding
generations from the scourge of war20. Since its creation, the UN has been
called upon to resolve disputes from escalating into war, to persuade opposing
parties to use the conference table rather than the force of arms and to help
restore peace when conflict breaks out. Over the decades, the UN has helped to
contain or end numerous conflicts, in many cases through the deployment of
peace keeping operations.

76
 Peace keeping as defined by the United Nations is a way to help
countries torn by conflict, creates conditions for sustainable peace. UN peace
keepers- soldiers and military officers, civilian police officers and civilian
personnel from many countries- monitor and observe peace processes that
emerge in post-conflict situations and assist ex-combatants in implementing the
peace agreements they have signed. Such assistance comes in many forms,
including confidence-building measures, power-sharing arrangements, electoral
support, strengthening the rule of law and economic and social development.
All operations must include the resolution of conflicts through the use of force
to be considered valid under the charter of the United Nations.

Peace keeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting
peace. It is distinguished from both peace building and peace making. Peace
keepers monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas and assist
ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they may have signed.
Such assistance comes in many forms, including confidence-building measures,
power-sharing arrangements, electoral support, strengthening the rule of law
and economic and social development. Accordingly, UN Peace Keepers (often
referred to as Blue Beret, because of their light blue berets or helmets) can
include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. UN Peace Keeping is
based on the principle that an impartial presence on the ground can ease
tensions between hostile parties and create space for political negotiations.
Peace keeping can help bridge the gap between the cessation of hostilities and a
durable peace, but only if the parties to a conflict have the political will needed
to reach the goal. Initially, developed as a means of dealing with inter-State
conflict, peace keeping has increasingly been used in intra-State conflicts and
civil wars, which are often characterized by multiple armed factions with
differing political objectives and fractured lines of command21.

77
 Peace-keeping is one of the measures initiated by the United Nations as
parts of overall process for management of conflict. As of non-enforcement
procedure, it began its life in 1946 as a relatively simple means of international
observation of the manner with which parties in conflict compelled with UN
resolution to cease hostilities. Since that time, Peace keeping has evolved in
size, complexity, legitimacy, and effectiveness. Peace-keeping is “an
extraordinary military art because it calls for the use of soldiers not to fight and
win, but to prevent fighting, to maintain ceasefires, and to provide order while
negotiations are being conducted”22. It is the process of de-escalation. It is also
a process “involving multiple layered responsibilities”23.

A peace keeping operation is a joint venture of many players with

legitimate interests operating within the parameters of the mandate. To be
effective, the mission must work with its partners as an integrated and inclusive
unit. After the deployment of a peacekeeping operation, additional partners
often arrive on the scene and can include bilateral agencies, international
organizations and other entities involved in social and economic development,
institution building and reconciliation. Broadly speaking, UN Peacekeeping
activities covers the civil affairs, political affairs, public information, military
operations, Mine Action Assistance, Police, Judiciary, Law, Human Rights,
Gender Mainstreaming, Administration and Support, Security and Safety of
Staff, Electoral Assistance, Humanitarian Assistance, Refugees and Internally
Displaced Persons, Recovery and Development of Sustainable Peace, etc all
over the world.

Peace keeping as a non-coercive and a politically impartial instrument

has always been based on a triad of principles viz. consent of parties to the
conflict, impartiality of the peace keepers, and the use of force by lightly armed
peacekeepers only in self-defence. Although, Peace Keepers were not deployed
in many instances during the cold war, the scenario of post-1989 changed in

78
that there was a spurt in peace-keeping operations. Despite a decline in the
middle of 1990s, the operations have increased in the late 20th and early 21st
century. As of June 2014, 122 countries have been contributing about 120,000
personnel across the world. Quantitative change apart, there has been a change
in the nature of conflicts; Intra-state conflicts are requiring more and more
peacekeepers as compared to inter-state conflicts24. So far many of the peace
keeping operations were successfully completed by UN peace keeping and for
this purpose; it has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 for their noble
contribution to establish peace and harmony all over the world.

Peacekeeping has unique strengths, including legitimacy, burden sharing,

and an ability to deploy and sustain troops and police from around the globe,
integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to advance multidimensional
mandates. UN Peacekeepers provide security and the political and peace
building support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from
conflict to peace. UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles25:
 Consent of the parties;
 Impartiality;
 Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

In the first four decades of UN peacekeeping operations the United

Nations, for the most part, avoided using contingents from the five permanent
members of the Security Council and forces from neighbouring powers. The
merits of these practices were obvious. Local conflicts were insulated from
Cold War rivalry and regional hegemony26. The weaknesses were equally
obvious. UN forces sometimes either lacked the authority and strength that a
great power presence would have provided.

The achievements of UN peace-keeping in the Cold War period,

although modest, were real. They included the effective freezing (although not
the resolution) of certain conflicts; some reduction of the risk, or extent, of

79
competitive interventions by neighbouring or major powers; and the isolation
of some local conflicts from the East-West struggle, so that the local conflicts
did not exacerbate the Cold War.

Since mid-1999 there has been a dramatic expansion in the number of

UN peacekeeping operations. From May 1988 to October 1993, twenty UN
peacekeeping operations were undertaken, involving 70,000 troops, observers
and civilian police27 and the latest statistics in peacekeeping operations are
separately given below. A main reason for the expansion of peacekeeping
activities of the United Nations has been the increased capacity of the UN
Security Council to agree on action in particular crisis. The decline in the use
of the veto had been a symbol of this agreement.

The end of the Cold War increased the need for international
peacekeeping as the post-Cold War conflicts assumed new character. Between
1985 and 1991 a series of peace agreements on Afghanistan, Angola, Namibia,
Central America and Cambodia created a demand for impartial international
forces to assist in implementing the provisions of these agreements, such as
monitoring ceasefires, troop withdrawals and elections. The decline and
collapse of two large communist States: the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
resulted in new conflicts. Following the end of the Cold War, the major
powers were less likely than before to see a conflict in a distant country in
geostrategic terms as part of a challenge from their major global adversary that
required a unilateral military response. The major powers were, therefore, more
willing to see a response emerge from within a UN framework.

The UN shifted and expanded its field operations from “traditional”

missions involving generally observational tasks performed by military
personnel to complex “multidimensional” enterprises. These multidimensional
missions were designed to ensure the implementation of comprehensive peace
agreements and assist in laying the foundations for sustainable peace. The

80
nature of conflicts also changed over the years. UN Peacekeeping, originally
developed as a means of dealing with inter-State conflict, was increasingly
being applied to intra-State conflicts and civil wars. UN Peacekeepers were
now increasingly asked to undertake a wide variety of complex tasks, from
helping to build sustainable institutions of governance, to human rights
monitoring, to security sector reform, to the disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration of former combatants. Although the military remained the
backbone of most peacekeeping operations, there were now many faces to
peacekeeping including:
 administrators
 economists
 police officers
 legal experts
 de-miners
 electoral observers
 human rights monitors
 civil affairs and governance specialists
 humanitarian workers
 communications and public information experts

It is noted that 29th May of every year is celebrated as International Day

of UN peacekeepers. The day has two purposes:
 to honour the memory of the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives
in the cause of peace;
 to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue
to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of
professionalism, dedication and courage.

81
UN Peacekeeping Statistics:

The latest statistics of UN Peacekeeping Operations as on 30th June 2014

as provided in United Nations Website28 are as under:
 Peacekeeping operations since 1948: 71
 Current peacekeeping operations: 16
 Current peace operations directed by the Department of Peacekeeping
Operations: 17

Note: In addition to peacekeeping operations, DPKO directs one political

mission: the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)]

Personnel:

 Uniformed personnel: 98,071 (as of 30 June 2014)

 Troops: 84,056
 Police: 12,197
 Military observers: 1,818
 Civilian personnel: 17,277 (as of 30 June 2014)
 International: 5,323
 Local: 11,954
 UN Volunteers: 2,015 (as of 30 June 2014)
 Total number of personnel serving in 16 peacekeeping operations:
117,363
 Total number of personnel serving in 17 DPKO-led peace operations:
118,936
 Countries contributing uniformed personnel: 122
 Total fatalities in current operations: 1,474
 Total fatalities in all peace operations since 1948: 3,243

82
Financial aspects:

 Approved resources for the period from July 01, 2013 to June 30, 2014:
about $7.83 billion.
 Outstanding contributions to peacekeeping (June 30, 2014): about $ 1.11
billion.

Following table shows the peacekeepers‟ tasks over the world29:

Military Civilian
 Assist in Implementing peace  Help former belligerents implement
agreements complex peace agreements
 Monitor a ceasefire or cessation of  Support delivery of humanitarian
hostilities assistance
 Provide a secure environment  Assist in the disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration of
ex-combatants
 Prevent the outbreak or spillover of  Supervise elections
conflict
 Lead states or territories through a  Build rule of law capacity
transition to stable government based
on democratic principles
 Administer a territory for a  Promote respect for human rights
transitional period.
 Assist Economic recovery
 Set up transitional administration.

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations identified „peacekeeping‟ as

one of five peace and security activities30:
 Conflict prevention including structural and diplomatic measures to
prevent disputes from developing into violent conflict;
 Peacemaking, the use of diplomatic measures to bring hostile parties to a
negotiated agreement;
 Peacekeeping, the use of military, police and civilian personnel to lay
the foundations of sustainable peace;
 Peace enforcement, the use of military and other measures to enforce the
will of the UN Security Council;

83
  Peacebuilding, „a range of measures aimed at reducing the risk of
lapsing or relapsing into conflict‟.

The UN has in fact played a key role in preserving world peace by

helping in the decolonization process, by providing humanitarian and
developmental assistance and through peacekeeping. The United Nations
peacekeeping has gradually grown to meet the demands of different conflicts
and changing political landscapes. Post-Cold War gave rise to fierce claims of
sub-national identity based on ethnicity, religion, culture and language. Thus
the strategic context for United Nations peacekeeping, dramatically changed,
and it expanded its field operations from “traditional” missions involving
strictly military tasks to complex “multidimensional” enterprises, such as (1)
Monitoring elections (2) Protecting inhabitants irrespective of majority or
minority from the threat or use of force (3) Protecting designated “Safe areas”
(4) Ensuring partial demilitarization of particular areas (5) Guarding the
weapons surrendered by or taken from parties to a conflict (6) Assuring the
delivery of humanitarian relief suppliers and the performance of a wide range
of other humanitarian tasks during conflicts (7) Assisting in the reconstruction
of governmental or police functions (8) Reporting of violations of international
humanitarian laws by belligerents31.

India always played a significant role in the UN Peace Keeping

Operations. India has always viewed UN as a vehicle for peace and for
peaceful change in world politics. Apart from this, India has always expected
UN to actively involve countries to moderate their differences through talks or
negotiations. Further, India has advocated active role for UN in development
effort of Third World countries. India has pleaded for a common united front of
the third world countries in the UN. It believes that the non-aligned world by
virtue of its massive number could play a constructive and meaningful role in
the UN by stopping the super powers from using this world body for their own

84
designs. As early as 1950, India linked the reduction of armaments with the
larger goal of development.

India‟s participation in peace-keeping began when the Indian combat

troops were first assigned to Korea in 1950 as the Custodian Force of India.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, gave the following
message to it before its departure to Korea: “You the custodian force of India,
deployed for the urgent humanitarian duty in the War-torn peninsula of Korea
in the early 1950s, are going on a mission of peace and goodwill... with ill-will
to none and categorical friendship to all. India and the Indian Army are
honoured by being asked to undertake this task but the responsibility is a heavy
one”32.

3.4. Conclusion:

To sum up, the world war, cold war and conflicts between different
nations and to establish global peace and security United Nations was formed.
It has diverse activities such as education, women‟s development, children‟s
health, human rights, labour welfare, peacekeeping, etc. India is cooperating
and supporting all the activities of the United Nations. Even the principles of
Indian foreign policy are supporting the basic principles such as peace,
development of nations, counter terrorism, disarmament, peacekeeping, etc,
which are stressed by the United Nations. United Nations is also very
cooperative in extending its support to develop the children and women and
Indian society. Of all the activities of United Nations, India is great contributor
for UN Peace Keeping Operations.

85
References:

1. Satyanarayana, R, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: India‟s

Participation, New Delhi, Akansha Publishing House, 2012, pp. 3-4.
2. Saksena, KP, India and the Evolving United Nations, IN: The UN at 50:
An Indian View, edited by Satish Kumar, New Delhi, India International
Centre, 1995, p. 2.
3. Saksena, Ibid, No. 2, p. 2.
4. Shairi Mathur, Voting for Veto: India in a Reformed UN, London, The
Foreign Policy Centre, September 2005, p.8.
5. Cohen, S, „India: Emerging Power‟, Brookings, 2001, p. 33.
6. Shairi Mathur, Voting for the Veto: India in a Reformed UN, London,
the Foreign Policy Centre, September 2005, p. 4.
7. Yeshi Choedon, India and the Current Concerns of UN Peacekeeping:
Issues and Prospects, India Quarterly, Vol. 63, No. 2, April-June 2007,
p.150.
8. Satish Nambiar, Problems and Prospects of UN Peacekeeping, Paper
presented in Seminar on „UN Peaceekeeping: Assessment, Prospects‟,
New Delhi, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, March 17-19,
1999, p. 29.
9. Ramesh Thakur, Introduction, IN: Emerging Challenges in UN
Peacekeeping Operations: An Indo-Japanese Dialogue, edited by
Dipankar Banerjee and Ramesh Thakur, New Delhi, Samskriti, 2006,
pp. xv-xvi.
10. Satish Nambiar, Ibid, pp.29-30.
11. Leonard Kapungu, Peacekeeping: Challenges and Realities, Security,
Cooperation and Disarmament: The Unfinished Agenda for the 1990s,
Proceedings of the Forty-Sixth Pugwash Conference on Science and
World Affairs, edited by Joseph Rotblat, Singapore, World Scientific,
September 02-07, 1996, p. 150.
12. Mehrish, BN, India and UN Peacekeeping Operations, IN: Sixty Years
of India‟s Contribution to the United Nations, edited by Ankush B.
Sawant, New Delhi, Authors Press, 2010, p.237.
13. UN Web Site: http://www.un.org
14. Bowett, DW, United Nations Forces, London, Stevens, 1964, p. 90.
15. Ray Murphy, UN Peacekeeping in Lebanon, Somalia and Kosovo,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007, p. 1.
16. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, An Agenda for Peace, New York, United
Nations, 1995, p. 14.
17. International Peace Academy, Peacekeeper‟s Handbook, New York,
Pergamon Press, 1984, pp. 21-22.
18. International Peace Academy, Ibid, No. 17, pp. 21-22.
19. Nadege Sheehan, The Economics of UN Peacekeeping, London,
Routledge, 2011, p. 9.

86
20. United Nations Charter http://www. un.org
21. Handbook on United Nations Multidimensional Peacekeeping
Operations, Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit, Department of
Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations, December 2003, p. l.
22. Cox, Arther M, Prospects for Peace-keeping, Washington D.C., The
Brookings Institutions, 1971, p. 19.
23. Fabian, Larry L, Soldiers without Enemies: Preparing the United
Nations Peace-keeping, Washington D.C., The Brookings Institutions,
1971, p.19.
24. Satish Nambiar, “UN Peace Keeping and India‟s National Strategy”,
National Strategy Lecture, March 4, 2011, Institute for Defense Studies
and Analysis, http://www.idsa.in
25. UN Web site: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations
26. Swadesh Rana, India, the United Nations and World Peace, IN: India‟s
Foreign Relations, edited by M.S. Rajan, New Delhi, 1976, p. 265.
27. Murthy, CSR, India and UN Peacekeeping Operations: Issues in Policy
and Participation, Paper presented at National Seminar on „India, UN
and the Emerging World Order‟ held at Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, on October 17-19, 1995, pp.12-13.
28. UN Web site:
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/resources/statistics/factsheet.shtml
29. Bellamy, Alex J and Williams, Paul D, Understanding Peacekeeping,
Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 15.
30. Alex J. Bellamy and Paul D. Williams, Ibid, p. 15.
31. Gareth Evans, Co-operating for Peace, Australia, Allen and Unwin,
2004, p. 99.
32. Rajan, United Nations and World Politics, New Delhi, Har-Anand
Publications, 1995, p. 87.

87