India reiterates stand on terrorism, highlights peacekeeping efforts at UN

India delivered remarks on its efforts in peacekeeping and spoke of new-age challenges arisen due to terrorism at the United Nations.

Counsellor Eldos Mathew Punnoos from India delivered the statement at the General Debate in the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly on Special Political Missions.

Speaking about the importance of the special political mission on how it meets the objective of maintaining international peace and security., Counsellor Punnoos said, "The salience of such missions is quite pronounced now as different regions of the world are witnessing conflicts of varying nature and scale".

Talking about terrorism, he said, "The menace of terrorism is a major global threat that adversely affects the prospects of peace. India's position in this regard has been clear and categorical".

"Terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, needs to be condemned," he highlighted.

Counsellor Punnoos noted that attainment of peace is subject to a complex interplay of conventional and emerging threats.

He noted that weaponisation of new technologies, use of hate speech and disinformation are the new challenges to the agenda of peace.

These comments come days after India slammed Pakistan in the UN for propagating fake news and digressing the UNGA session from its original debate.

The remarks were delivered by Indian Member of Parliament, Sudhanshu Trivedi on Saturday, who was delivering a statement on the UN Peacekeeping operations. During his speech, he has slammed Pakistan for is fake news and rhetoric on the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Highlighting Indian actions towards the cause, Counsellor Punnoos said, "India has been a strong proponent of peace and has abiding faith in dialogue and diplomacy as the best means to achieve and sustain peace. We have reiterated our position on several multilateral and bilateral platforms. It is therefore natural that our commitment to peace is manifested in our actions".

"With around 290,000 troops till date, India has been the largest cumulative contributor to the UN peacekeeping. 180 Indian peacekeepers made the supreme sacrifice towards this cause", commenting on the gender representation in the peacekeeping forces, he brought to attention that "India has the distinction of being the first country to deploy an all-women-formed police unit to a peacekeeping mission at the United Nations Mission in Liberia from 2007 to 2016," he further said.

India noted in its remarks that apart from peacekeeping, other critical dimensions associated with special political missions include "peacemaking, conflict resolution, negotiation and peacebuilding".

Commenting on the nature of such important missions, Counsellor Punnoos said, "These missions need to be transparent, consultative, and participatory in nature. The evolving nature of challenges and threats to peace warrant dynamism and agility in the functioning of special political missions".

Calling for tailor-made responses, for the conflicts taking place, Counsellor Punnoos concluded, saying, "India reiterates its firm commitment to work alongside the United Nations and other parties to foster and promote peace towards addressing the ongoing conflicts and conditions".

The Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly on Special Political Missions saw the world coming together at the UN and deliberate upon various issues ranging from transnational challenges to supporting national peacebuilding priorities. Attention was brought to the special political missions which play a key role in UN's peacebuilding architecture.

The Committee encouraged the missions to continue fostering inclusive partnerships with regional and sub regional organizations as well as work closely with host Governments.