Bhamre to represent India at UN peacekeeping meet

Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre will represent India at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Conference being held in Vancouver, Canada, said an official on Tuesday.

Bhamre is scheduled to speak on Wednesday, the concluding day of the two-day conference, in which over 500 delegates from more than 70 countries and international organisations are participating.

Along with representatives from the African Union, European Union, NATO and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the conference is discussing improvements to UN peacekeeping operations.

"This year's focus is peacekeeping and youth as peacebuilders. While ensuring that the integration of gender perspective remains at the heart of the talks, these discussions will revolve around four themes. The discussion will also explore the importance of economic development in preventing conflict in fragile states and in sustainably rebuilding post-conflict states," a Defence Ministry release said.

The last meeting, held in London in September last year, had taken up issues on women, peace and security, pre- and post deployment, tackling sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and improving peacekeeping through rapid deployment.

--IANS

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