India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador P. Harish, has praised UN peacekeeping as a “beacon of hope and stability,” while emphasizing the need for adaptability in evolving global conflicts. 

Speaking at a United Nations Security Council Open Debate on “UN Peace Operations: A Call for Adaptation and New Realities,” on March 24, 2025, Ambassador Harish urged the Council to reflect on past lessons and implement strategic reforms for the future.

He stressed that any restructuring of the peacekeeping framework must be built on consensus, outlining 11 key recommendations for strengthening peace operations.

• Evolving Threats – UN peacekeepers now face non-state actors, terrorists, transnational criminals, and emerging technological threats like misinformation, drones, and IEDs.
• Inclusive Mandate Formulation – Troop- and police-contributing countries must be involved at every stage of drafting peacekeeping mandates to ensure effective adaptation.
• Adequate Funding – Peacekeeping missions require resources that match their mandates. Uncertainty in funding disproportionately affects Global South contributors.
• Mission Rationalization – Inefficient or politically motivated missions should be discontinued to allocate resources effectively and uphold the UN’s credibility.
• National Ownership in Peacebuilding – Peacebuilding efforts should align with host nations’ priorities, ensuring better coordination among UN agencies, financial institutions, and peacekeeping bodies.
• Role of Women in Peacekeeping – Women are essential to peacekeeping. India has championed this by organizing the first Global South Women Peacekeepers Conference.
• Peacekeeper Safety – Given the complexities of modern conflicts, ensuring peacekeepers’ security and holding perpetrators accountable is crucial.
• Capacity Building – Contributing countries must train personnel for new challenges. India offers specialized peacekeeping courses through CUNPK.
• Technology Integration – Advanced surveillance, communication, and data analytics should be leveraged to enhance peacekeeping effectiveness. India is ready to assist.
• Clear Exit Strategies – Peacekeeping missions should not be indefinite; they need structured transition plans to ensure lasting peace.
• Political Solutions Over Peacekeeping Alone – Sustainable peace requires political resolution, necessitating UNSC reforms for better representation of global realities.

Reaffirming India’s long-standing commitment to global peace, Ambassador Harish highlighted the nation’s significant contributions, with nearly 300,000 troops deployed across more than 50 UN missions.

“We pay tribute to more than 4,000 UN peacekeepers, including 182 Indian personnel, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of peace, and towards that, seek earliest completion of the Memorial Wall in their honor,” he added. “And as we look to the future, India reaffirms its unwavering commitment to UN peacekeeping and pledges its continued support to the United Nations in its pursuit of international peace and security.”

Ambassador Harish also underscored India’s vision for Security Council reforms, advocating for a “balanced, inclusive, and effective” approach to peacekeeping in an era marked by geopolitical volatility and constrained resources.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres echoed these sentiments, acknowledging the evolution of UN peace operations since 1948. 

He emphasized “Time and again, they allow us to mount tailored responses that have saved lives, reduced violence, prevented the expansion and spillover of deadly conflicts and stopped atrocities.”

Guterres emphasized the growing difficulty of achieving negotiated settlements, highlighting the complex and evolving threats faced by UN peace operations – many of which transcend national borders.

“Terror and extremist groups, organized crime, the weaponization of new technologies, and the effects of climate change are all testing our capacities to respond.  And, I regret to say, geopolitical divisions are undermining peace…” he pointed out. “Violations of international law, human rights and the UN Charter are rampant — seemingly without consequence.”

Despite this grim assessment, Guterres pointed to a positive development: through the Pact for the Future, Member States have pledged to adapt peace operations to modern challenges.

“This is an important opportunity to gain a shared understanding of what makes peace operations successful, what is hindering their effectiveness, and what new models we can use to make them more adaptable, flexible and resilient,” he noted while acknowledging the constraints in situations where there is “little or no peace to keep.” 

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