Indian peacekeeper honoured posthumously with prestigious UN medal for sacrifice in line of duty

United Nations: An Indian peacekeeper who lost his life serving under the UN flag is among the over 60 military, police and civilian peacekeepers honoured posthumously on Thursday with a prestigious medal for their service and supreme sacrifice in the line of duty.

Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh, who served with the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), was honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal during a solemn ceremony when the UN commemorated the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador, Ruchira Kamboj, received the medal from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

India is the second largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.

It currently deploys more than 6,000 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, Somalia, South Sudan, and Western Sahara.

Nearly 180 Indian peacekeepers have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, the highest number from any troop-contributing country.

During formal ceremonies at the United Nations Headquarters on May 30, Secretary-General Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial Site on the North Lawn to honour all UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.

He presided over a ceremony during which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medals were awarded posthumously to 64 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers who lost their lives serving under the UN flag, including 61 who died last year.

In his message to mark Peacekeepers’ Day, Guterres said the world organisation pays tribute to the more than 76,000 United Nations peacekeepers who embody humanity’s highest ideal: peace.

“Day in and day out, at great personal risk, these women and men bravely work in some of the most dangerous and unstable places on earth to protect civilians, uphold human rights, support elections and strengthen institutions,” he said, noting that more than 4,300 peacekeepers have paid the ultimate price while serving under the UN flag.

“We will never forget them.”

In 1948, the historic decision was made to deploy military observers to the Middle East to supervise the implementation of Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements in what became the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation.