Fallen UN Peacekeepers: PM Modi thanks UNGA for Memorial Wall
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for adopting an India-piloted resolution to establish a new Memorial Wall for fallen peacekeepers of the world body.
“The Resolution received a record 190 co-sponsorships. Grateful for everyone’s support,” he tweeted.
The UNGA adopted the resolution of honoring fallen peacekeepers through the establishment of a memorial wall and favored promoting a culture of peace, according to media reports.
India’s Permanent Representative (PR) to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, introduced the draft resolution ‘Memorial wall for fallen United Nations peacekeepers’, pointing out that more than 10 lakh men and women from 125 countries have served in 71 peacekeeping missions worldwide. “Even today, over 80,000 peacekeepers serve in various conflict zones, enduring harsh conditions and risking their lives to keep the peace,” she said.
However, this has not been without its cost– over 4,200 peacekeepers have laid down their lives in the service of the blue flag, she said.
“These brave men and women — who came from different parts of the world, practiced different faiths, and followed different cultures — were united by the cause of peace, their spirit of selfless sacrifice, professionalism, and resolve.
“They made the supreme sacrifice in the pursuit of mandates that we as Member States requested them to carry out,” she said, emphasizing that the memorial wall will be a constant reminder of the cost of Members’ decisions,’’ she said.
“India piloted the adoption of a Resolution in the UN General Assembly to establish a Memorial Wall for fallen peacekeepers. The Resolution received a record 190 co-sponsorships, a testimony to faith in India’s contributions and intent,’’ External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar noted.
India uploaded this draft resolution on the UN website three weeks ago, with 190 member states as co-sponsors, including Pakistan and China. “This is huge. The highest number of co-sponsors earlier for an Indian resolution was 177 member states for the International Day of Yoga,” said T.S Trimurti, India’s previous PR at the UN.
The UNGA welcomed the initiative to establish — within three years of the text’s adoption — a memorial wall at the UN in New York honoring the memory of fallen peacekeepers.
As its planning, construction, upkeep, and maintenance will be funded entirely from voluntary contributions, the UNGA invited interested Member States to contribute voluntarily. It also decided to give prominence to the memorial wall by including it in the solemn ceremonies conducted on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers and other UN peacekeeping-related events.
