UN medals awarded to 651 Indian Army peacekeepers for service in eastern DR Congo
An Indian Army brigadier serving in the DR Congo peacekeeping mission pinning a medal on a woman major in Sake, eastern DRC. (Photo: ADGPI/Handout)
New Delhi: Six hundred and fifty-one Indian Army personnel deployed with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) were awarded the United Nations Medal at a parade held at their permanent operating base in Sake, eastern DRC, on Friday. The ceremony was attended by senior Monusco officials, representatives of the mission’s force headquarters and military commanders, along with other guests.
The Indian troops are stationed in North Kivu province, among the most volatile theatres in the UN’s peacekeeping portfolio, where armed groups – most prominently the M23 rebel movement – have for years contested territory with Congolese government forces, displacing millions of civilians. Monusco, one of the UN’s largest and longest-running missions, has operated in the country since 2010, with a mandate centred on civilian protection, support to humanitarian access and assistance to the Congolese state in stabilizing conflict-affected areas.
India’s contribution to the mission forms part of a broader and long-standing commitment to UN peacekeeping. New Delhi is the second-largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN operations worldwide, with more than 4,000 troops and police currently serving across missions including those in Lebanon, South Sudan, Cyprus, Abyei and Western Sahara, besides the DRC. Since 1948, more than 270,000 Indian personnel have served under the UN flag across 49 missions, and nearly 180 have died in the line of duty – the highest toll among all troop-contributing nations.
The Army’s Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping in Delhi, which trains upwards of 12,000 troops a year, has been central to sustaining this record, and Indian peacekeepers have separately been recognized in recent years for individual acts of distinction, including the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal awarded posthumously to those killed in service and the Military Gender Advocate of the Year award, won by three Indian officers since 2019.
The Sake ceremony concluded with the peacekeepers reaffirming their commitment to serving under the Blue Flag, a gesture that reflects the continuity of India’s engagement with UN peacekeeping even as the mandate in the DRC – now under review by the UN security council amid pressure to draw down Monusco’s footprint – faces an uncertain future.
