India's role in sharing global priorities

As one of the founding members of the United Nations, India has played a critical role throughout the organisation’s 80-year history and across all three of its pillars, contends Annalena Baerbock, President, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Since 1948, India has contributed about 300,000 troops to more than 53 missions, with 184-odd Indian peace-keepers making the ultimate sacrifice in the service of global peace, she adds.

At present, India has 600 peacekeepers in Lebanon (UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). After the outbreak of the conflict in West Asia, six UN peacekeepers have been killed (three each from Indonesia and Italy). Concerns are now being raised about the safety and security of these personnel.

“In the context of the war in the Middle East, every effort has to be made to stop the war,” Baerbock told Business India. “Not just in Hormuz, though, amongst other things, it has led to an increase in the price of essentials like oil and fertiliser. There has been enough devastation in Gaza and Lebanon, too, with nearly 1.2 million people displaced in Lebanon alone. We have condemned every attack on UN peacekeepers. All members of the UN are committed to ensuring the safety of peacekeepers – people from all over the world, who have volunteered themselves to keep the peace for other communities. Their safety has to be given the utmost importance. We want a peaceful end to the conflict”.

Peacekeepers serve in alien conditions and are deployed under difficult circumstances, with the backing of a UN mandate in conflict areas. Peacekeeping is multilateralism in action.

“The safety and security of the peacekeepers must be a priority,” says P. Harish, ambassador & India’s permanent representative to the UN in New York. “Underlining the centrality of this principle, India piloted the UN Security Council Resolution 2,589, which seeks accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. India joins the international community in condemning the attacks on UN peacekeepers deployed in UNIFIL”.

India has also been a leader in South-South Co-operation, committing $150 million over 10 years to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund to specifically support least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states in their pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Bringing peace

Meanwhile, responding to bringing peace in the ongoing conflict in West Asia, Baerbock said that bringing peace is not as easy as just speaking about it; there is a need for ceasefire negotiations before one can achieve it. “Today, the UN, multilateralism and international law are not only under pressure but also under direct attack. And, at a time when there is a backlash against human rights and women’s rights, I would like to remind people around the world that both human rights and women’s rights have been embedded in the UN directive principles since the beginning as the foundation of peace and development. As the great Indian leader Hansa Mehta ensured, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from 1948 reads ‘all human beings are born free and equal’,” Baerbock added.

During her visit, Baerbock held bilateral discussions with S. Jaishankar, India’s minister for external affairs, focusing on strengthening co-operation on shared global priorities. Highlighting India’s role, she described the country as an essential partner in advancing multilateral solutions. She also underscored the need for a more efficient and responsive UN, noting that the ongoing UN80 reform efforts are expected to strengthen delivery at the country level and improve impact on people’s lives