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Kathmandu,Monday January 17, 2000 Magh 3rd, 2056.
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Regional
peacekeeping training kicks off
Nepal proposed peacekeeping center
-By
Surendra Phuyal & Guna Raj Luintel
UN
PEACEKEEPING TRAINING CENTER, Panchkhal, Jan 16 - Nepal, with its highly experienced
peacekeepers, could become United Nation’s peacekeeping center for South Asia region,
UN’s highly placed peacekeeping officials said here today.
“Nepal,
with its very high level peacekeepers, could be developed as this region’s
peacekeeping center,” Yong Jin Choi, Assistant Secretary-General of UN’s
Department of Peacekeeping Operations told reporters after the opening of Exercise Shanti
Prayas, a South Asian Peacekeeping Operations Multi-Platoon Training Event, in this scenic
valley here Sunday.
Prime
Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, who also holds the defense portfolio, opened what army
officials here called historical event by lighting a Flame of Peace amid a grand ceremony.
Commander-in-Chief
of United State’s Pacific Command, Admiral Dennis C Blair also endorsed the idea
while talking to reporters. He said that it would be appropriate to set up a peacekeeping
force in Nepal “as South Asia region does not have a regional peacekeeping training
center yet”. According to officials, setting up of the regional peacekeeping training
centers in different parts of the world is a fairly new concept. Such centers have so far
been set up in Norway and Sweden.
Praising
the jobs done by the Royal Nepal Army in UN’s various peacekeeping operations,
Admiral Blair said that the Nepal Army’s performance in various peacekeeping
operations has remained excellent. “They are so experienced that they even teach my
soldiers how to perform duties during peacekeeping operations,” he added.
Addressing
the opening ceremony earlier in the day, Royal Nepal Army’s Chief of the Army Staff
Prajwalla SJB Rana had sought the endorsement of the officials present to the proposal
that “this Training Center be declared a South Asian Regional Peacekeeping Training
Center to enable us to exchange our professional experiences in our endeavors and
pursuit of universal peace”.
The
Site has remained the training venue of the Royal Nepal Army, one of the leading
peacekeepers of the world. Since 1958 over 35,000 Nepal Army personnel have already
served in various UN missions. Nepal has currently committed a total force of 3,000 for UN
peace-keeping duties. Thirty-five Nepali soldiers have lost their lives during the
peacekeeping duties to date.
“We
have tried our best to create the working environment for the peacekeepers here like that
of Lebanon,” the army chief told The Kathmandu Post. The soldiers feel easier to
perform duties in the battlefield after receiving training here. “Nepal Army has been
involved in peacekeeping operations in Lebanon since 1978.
Prime
Minister Bhattarai, and the prominent army officers, including Chief of General Staff of
Bangladesh Army, Major General Hasan Mashud Chaudhary, and Deputy Chief of Staff of Sri
Lankan Army, Major General KJC Parera, paid tribute to the soldiers’ ‘supreme
sacrifice’ at a wreath laying ceremony. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Ram Sharan
Mahat was also present on the occasion.
Altogether
four platoons--one each from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the United States--are
partaking in the fortnight long training event. While army officials from Australia,
Canada, China, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives,
Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga and United Kingdom
are participating as observers. At the opening of the historic multi-platoon training
event today, soldiers of the participating platoons presented a salute to the Prime
Minister, while peace pigeons were released, and auspicious tunes played. Two helicopters
that flew past the opening venue displaying welcome banners, and the free fall display by
seven Nepali paratroopers carrying flags of the participating nations were other
attractions.
The
multi-platoon training event, supported by the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping and
the US Pacific Command, is expected to develop new peacekeeping partnership amongst the
units hailing from various regional, cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds so as to
bridge cross-cultural dimensions of modern peacekeeping. “As the peacekeepers
are drawn from the armies of various UN member countries, the multinational force needs to
develop a unified operational mechanism,” stressed Prime Minister Bhattarai.
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