ISLAMABAD: Pakistan joined the international community in celebrating the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers today, Thursday, the prime minister’s office said in a message, paying tribute to 181 Pakistanis who had been killed in the line of duty.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, May 29, is “an international day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.”
“In the seven-decade history of UN peacekeeping missions, more than 235,000 Pakistani peacekeepers have rendered distinguished service in 48 UN missions around the world,” PM Shehbaz Sharif said in a message.
“181 Pakistani peacekeepers have made the eternal sacrifice of their lives in achieving international peace and security.”
Sharif said the international day was an opportune occasion to review the many challenges facing UN peacekeeping, such as increasingly unilateral policies, financial sanctions, growing threats to the safety and security of UN peacekeepers, targeting of UN peacekeeping operations based on disinformation, and the destabilizing effects of new and emerging technologies.
In an effort to address these challenges, Pakistan, along with the Republic of Korea, co-hosted the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in Islamabad last month with the theme, “Towards a Safer and More Effective Peace: Using Technology and an Integrated Approach”.
Pakistan also hosts the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), one of the oldest UN peacekeeping missions, tasked with monitoring the ceasefire along the Line of Control in the UN-recognized disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The date, May 29, for the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, marks the anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in 1948 to monitor the ceasefire after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which was the first ever UN peacekeeping mission.
