UN Peacekeepers honoured in New Delhi
India is among the largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping, with more than 6,000 personnel currently deployed in missions worldwide.
UN in India joined the Indian Army in New Delhi to pay tribute to peacekeepers who lost their lives in line of duty on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 30 May.
Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Rakesh Kapoor and United Nations Resident Coordinator in India ad interim Andrea Wojnar laid a wreath at the National War Museum to pay homage to 179 UN peacekeepers from India who have been killed in the pursuit of international peace.
“More than 270,000 women and men from across the country have worn the blue helmet. And some have given their lives in doing so. We honour them and all those who work towards the highest human aspiration: peace in this world,” Ms. Wojnar said in her digital message for the memorial.
Indian peacekeeper Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh, who served with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), was posthumously honoured with the Dag Hammarskjöld medal.
Major Radhika Sen, a military officer from India, who served with the MONUSCO, is this year’s recipient of the 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. As a gender advocate, Major Radhika has helped create spaces to amplify voices of women in local security and peace discussions. She is the second Indian peacekeeper to receive this prestigious award, after Major Suman Gawani in 2019. While congratulating the Indian military peacekeeper for her service, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Major Sen is a true leader and role model. Her service was a true credit to the United Nations as a whole".
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