India has called for the winding down of the UN peacekeeping missions that have completed their mandates or outlived purpose.

Speaking at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)&nbsp;debate on UN Peacekeeping Operations, India's envoy to UN T.S. Tirumurti said, "Peacekeeping missions are meant to be transitional measures and not operate in perpetuity. There is an urgent need for time-bound exit strategies to ensure that peacekeeping missions do not become instruments for furthering political interests."

The development assumes significance even as many other missions including United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) have long outlived their function. UNMOGIP came into existence after the India, Pakistan war of 1947. New Delhi, since the Shimla pact of 1972 was signed sees no purpose for it as it doesn't recognise any third party role in the region. While Pakistan keeps UNMOGIP alive by sending any ceasefire violation report, and for its own political purpose, the last report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on UNMOGIP was published in 1972. &nbsp;

During the statement by Envoy Tirumuti while lauding UN peacekeepers as the "one singular iconic image that has become synonymous with peace, then it is that of the UN peacekeeper with the blue helmet", he called for "need for appropriate equipment for not only for safety and security of personnel" and expressed disappointment over lack of "consensus on the need to increase reimbursement rates."

Elaborating, "Peacekeepers have long been the best chance for peace...India pays rich tribute to all the brave women and men who have served under the UN flag and continue to serve in peacekeeping mission with the highest professionalism, dedication, and courage."

UN peacekeepers are reimbursed by the UN at a standard rate, approved by the General Assembly. The approved budget for UN Peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year July 01, 2020 - June 30, 2021, is $6.58 billion.

The Indian envoy to UN in his extensive statement listed out New Delhi's focus areas vis-a-vis UN Peacekeeping which are transparency in selecting contingents, more women in missions, exit strategies, matching mandates with resources, honest assessment and feedback, effective implementation of Integrated Performance Policy Framework.&nbsp;

India is one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping. In fact, in 2007, in a first, India sent an all-women UN police peacekeeping contingent in Liberia which was hailed as an important development in the history of UN Peacekeeping. &nbsp;

Tirumuti said, "India is committed to working with partners of this Committee on measures to make UN peacekeeping operations more effective, efficient, and transformative." Amid the covid pandemic, India dispatched two medical teams and upgraded its peacekeeping hospitals in United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo and in United Nations Mission in South Sudan or UNMISS in Juba, South Sudan.

India has called for the winding down of the UN peacekeeping missions that have completed their mandates or outlived purpose. Speaking at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) debate on UN Peacekeeping Operations, India's envoy to UN T.

India has called for the winding down of the UN peacekeeping missions that have completed their mandates or outlived purpose. Speaking at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) debate on UN Peacekeeping Operations, India's envoy to UN T.S. Tirumurti said, "Peacekeeping missions are meant to be transitional measures and not operate in perpetuity. There is an urgent need for time-bound exit strategies to ensure that peacekeeping missions do not become instruments for furthering political interests." The development assumes significance even as many other missions including United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) have long outlived their function. UNMOGIP came into existence after the India, Pakistan war of 1947. New Delhi, since the Shimla pact of 1972 was signed sees no purpose for it as it doesn't recognise any third party role in the region. While Pakistan keeps UNMOGIP alive by sending any ceasefire violation report, and for its own political purpose, the last report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on UNMOGIP was published in 1972. During the statement by Envoy Tirumuti while lauding UN peacekeepers as the "one singular iconic image that has become synonymous with peace, then it is that of the UN peacekeeper with the blue helmet", he called for "need for appropriate equipment for not only for safety and security of personnel" and expressed disappointment over lack of "consensus on the need to increase reimbursement rates." Elaborating, "Peacekeepers have long been the best chance for peace...India pays rich tribute to all the brave women and men who have served under the UN flag and continue to serve in peacekeeping mission with the highest professionalism, dedication, and courage." UN peacekeepers are reimbursed by the UN at a standard rate, approved by the General Assembly. The approved budget for UN Peacekeeping operations for the fiscal year July 01, 2020 - June 30, 2021, is $6.58 billion. The Indian envoy to UN in his extensive statement listed out New Delhi's focus areas vis-a-vis UN Peacekeeping which are transparency in selecting contingents, more women in missions, exit strategies, matching mandates with resources, honest assessment and feedback, effective implementation of Integrated Performance Policy Framework. India is one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping. In fact, in 2007, in a first, India sent an all-women UN police peacekeeping contingent in Liberia which was hailed as an important development in the history of UN Peacekeeping. Tirumuti said, "India is committed to working with partners of this Committee on measures to make UN peacekeeping operations more effective, efficient, and transformative." Amid the covid pandemic, India dispatched two medical teams and upgraded its peacekeeping hospitals in United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo and in United Nations Mission in South Sudan or UNMISS in Juba, South Sudan.

India calls for winding down of UN mission who have completed mandates

India, which is owed $38 million by the UN for peacekeeping operations, has voiced concern over the "unjustifiable and inexplicable" delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops and police for UN missions.

It underlined that recurrent delays in payments have turned the Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) as "de facto financers" of UN peacekeeping.

"Reimbursement on time for peacekeeping is a genuine expectation," First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Mahesh Kumar said Thursday at a Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) session on 'Improving the Financial Situation of the United Nations.'

Kumar noted that total arrears currently stand at a whopping $3.6 billion, nearly one-third of the annual assessment of the United Nations, adding that UN peacekeeping also suffers from delay in reimbursements.

He pointed out that apart from the one billion dollar worth of unsettled reimbursements to TCCs, large reimbursements related to Letters of Assist ($178 million) and death and disability claims ($8 million) were also outstanding.

These amounts do not include the long unsettled Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) reimbursements of many TCCs, including India, from the closed peacekeeping missions.

The UN owes India $38 million, among the highest it has to pay to any country, for peacekeeping operations as of March 2019, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said in his report in April on improving the financial situation of the UN. As of March 31, 2019, the total amount payable to troop- and police-contributing countries with respect to active peacekeeping missions was $265 million.

Kumar emphasised that India is among those member states who continue to be owed significant sums towards troop and COE reimbursements from the active peacekeeping missions but the country still continues to support UN peacekeeping and is cumulatively the largest troop contributor.

He voiced concern over the "unjustifiable and inexplicable delays in reimbursement, saying it negatively impacts on UN's ability to maintain honest agreements with TCCs on other aspects of peacekeeping. "This situation calls for serious introspection," he said.

Emphasising that arrears put those member states that would have benefitted from the efficient implementation of mandates to a serious disadvantage, Kumar noted that while there has not been any real growth in the reimbursement rates, the TCCs have been asked to bring in more capacities and more equipment to achieve ambitious mandates.

"These arrears and recurrent delay in reimbursement have turned the TCCs as de facto financers of UN peacekeeping. This is involuntary and beyond many TCCs' capacity to pay; in fact, it eats up their already limited capacity to contribute," he said.

Kumar added that the current reimbursement framework and related practices of the UN Secretariat also compound the problem, noting that the practice of delaying payments to TCCs, even as similar contractual obligations to others are met, cannot continue "unaddressed."

India's share of the UN's budget has been increasing in recent years, including a 13 per cent increase from this year and the country has been paying its share on time. The UN Secretary-General has put forth several proposals to improve the financial situation of the UN and some of the proposals supposedly aim to improve the UN's reimbursement relationship with the TCCs. Kumar said India will study these proposals carefully.

Guterres had said in his report that the arrears to troop- and police-contributing countries could increase to $588 million by June 2019 "in the worst-case scenario. The UN chief had expressed his concern about the deteriorating financial health of the Organisation, saying the United Nations is facing deepening liquidity problems in its regular budget, a trend that must be urgently halted and reversed.

"Peacekeeping operations also face frequent cash constraints that force the Organisation to postpone the settlement of its obligations to troop- and police-contributing countries, he said.

Guterres has requested the General Assembly to increase the Working Capital Fund to $350 million effective July 1, 2019 and to create a Peacekeeping Working Capital Fund of $250 million and authorise its use to address the liquidity challenges of active peacekeeping operations among ways to help improve the financial situation of the world body and deal with timely payment of dues to troop and police contributing countries.

Earlier this year, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had said that the financial situation of the United Nations peacekeeping, particularly the non-payment/delayed payment of arrears to the troop/police-contributing countries, is a "cause for concern".

He had said that the practice of delaying payments to TCCs/PCCs, even as contractual obligations to others are met, cannot continue unaddressed.

It results in TCCs/PCCs bearing unsustainable burdens. In some cases, TCCs and PCCs are owed 100 to 200 times their cumulative annual financial contributions to the UN, he had said.

India, which is owed $38 million by the UN for peacekeeping operations, has voiced concern over the "unjustifiable and inexplicable" delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops and police for UN missions.

India, which is owed $38 million by the UN for peacekeeping operations, has voiced concern over the "unjustifiable and inexplicable" delays in reimbursement to countries providing peacekeeping troops and police for UN missions. It underlined that recurrent delays in payments have turned the Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) as "de facto financers" of UN peacekeeping. "Reimbursement on time for peacekeeping is a genuine expectation," First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN Mahesh Kumar said Thursday at a Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) session on 'Improving the Financial Situation of the United Nations.' Kumar noted that total arrears currently stand at a whopping $3.6 billion, nearly one-third of the annual assessment of the United Nations, adding that UN peacekeeping also suffers from delay in reimbursements. He pointed out that apart from the one billion dollar worth of unsettled reimbursements to TCCs, large reimbursements related to Letters of Assist ($178 million) and death and disability claims ($8 million) were also outstanding. These amounts do not include the long unsettled Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) reimbursements of many TCCs, including India, from the closed peacekeeping missions. The UN owes India $38 million, among the highest it has to pay to any country, for peacekeeping operations as of March 2019, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had said in his report in April on improving the financial situation of the UN. As of March 31, 2019, the total amount payable to troop- and police-contributing countries with respect to active peacekeeping missions was $265 million. Kumar emphasised that India is among those member states who continue to be owed significant sums towards troop and COE reimbursements from the active peacekeeping missions but the country still continues to support UN peacekeeping and is cumulatively the largest troop contributor. He voiced concern over the "unjustifiable and inexplicable delays in reimbursement, saying it negatively impacts on UN's ability to maintain honest agreements with TCCs on other aspects of peacekeeping. "This situation calls for serious introspection," he said. Emphasising that arrears put those member states that would have benefitted from the efficient implementation of mandates to a serious disadvantage, Kumar noted that while there has not been any real growth in the reimbursement rates, the TCCs have been asked to bring in more capacities and more equipment to achieve ambitious mandates. "These arrears and recurrent delay in reimbursement have turned the TCCs as de facto financers of UN peacekeeping. This is involuntary and beyond many TCCs' capacity to pay; in fact, it eats up their already limited capacity to contribute," he said. Kumar added that the current reimbursement framework and related practices of the UN Secretariat also compound the problem, noting that the practice of delaying payments to TCCs, even as similar contractual obligations to others are met, cannot continue "unaddressed." India's share of the UN's budget has been increasing in recent years, including a 13 per cent increase from this year and the country has been paying its share on time. The UN Secretary-General has put forth several proposals to improve the financial situation of the UN and some of the proposals supposedly aim to improve the UN's reimbursement relationship with the TCCs. Kumar said India will study these proposals carefully. Guterres had said in his report that the arrears to troop- and police-contributing countries could increase to $588 million by June 2019 "in the worst-case scenario. The UN chief had expressed his concern about the deteriorating financial health of the Organisation, saying the United Nations is facing deepening liquidity problems in its regular budget, a trend that must be urgently halted and reversed. "Peacekeeping operations also face frequent cash constraints that force the Organisation to postpone the settlement of its obligations to troop- and police-contributing countries, he said. Guterres has requested the General Assembly to increase the Working Capital Fund to $350 million effective July 1, 2019 and to create a Peacekeeping Working Capital Fund of $250 million and authorise its use to address the liquidity challenges of active peacekeeping operations among ways to help improve the financial situation of the world body and deal with timely payment of dues to troop and police contributing countries. Earlier this year, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had said that the financial situation of the United Nations peacekeeping, particularly the non-payment/delayed payment of arrears to the troop/police-contributing countries, is a "cause for concern". He had said that the practice of delaying payments to TCCs/PCCs, even as contractual obligations to others are met, cannot continue unaddressed. It results in TCCs/PCCs bearing unsustainable burdens. In some cases, TCCs and PCCs are owed 100 to 200 times their cumulative annual financial contributions to the UN, he had said.

India voices concern over delays in reimbursement to UN peacekeeping contributing countries

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India calls for winding down of UN mission who have completed mandates

India voices concern over delays in reimbursement to UN peacekeeping contributing countries