Islamabad
Pakistan on Friday reaffirmed its com-mitment to ensure that peacekeeping remained a potent mecha-nism of maintaining peace, security and stability in the world.
‘As a consistent leading troop contributing country, Pakistan is cog-nizant of the important role played by UN peacekeepers in maintain-ing security and stability in so many of the world’s conflict zones,’ said Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui in a statement is-sued here on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
‘Pakistan joins the international community in celebrating Interna-tional Day of United Nations Peacekeepers,’ she added.
The Spokesperson said, ‘We salute the services and sacrifices ren-dered by peacekeepers from around the world and reiterate our sol-emn commitment to continue working with the United Nations for the ideals of peace, stability and cooperation espoused by the ‘blue helmets’.’
‘Pakistan is proud of its long-standing contributions to UN peace-keeping spanning over six decades. Our peacekeepers have earned well deserved respect and goodwill for their professionalism and de-votion to duty in every mission they have participated in,’ she added..
The Spokesperson said, ‘Since 1960, over 200,000 of our service-men have served with honour and distinction in 46 UN missions in 26 countries in almost all continents of the world. One hundred and fifty-seven of our gallant peacekeepers have made the ultimate sac-rifice for the cause of international peace and security.’
‘Pakistan has also led the way in deputing female peacekeepers in a record time. In 2019, Pakistan met the 15 percent benchmark set by the UN Secretariat in the staff/ officers category. Our lady police officer Shahzadi Gulfam was the first ever recipient of International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2011,’ she added.
‘Our contribution to peacekeeping on ground has been comple-mented by our sustained engagement in policy development in peacekeeping. We bring a unique perspective to peacekeeping as a leading troop contributing country as well as a host country to one of the oldest peacekeeping missions, UNMOGIP’, the Spokesperson maintained.–APP
