India takes UNSC to task over Eritrea peacekeeping

India has warned the UN Security Council that its failure to stop Eritrea from putting hurdles in the way of the peacekeeping mission overse...

India has warned the UN Security Council that its failure to stop Eritrea from putting hurdles in the way of the peacekeeping mission overseeing the ceasefire agreement with Ethiopia would compromise the integrity of the mission and jeopardise personnel safety.

At a closed door meeting between troop contributing countries and the Council yesterday, Indian UN ambassador Nirupam Sen reminded members that India had the largest contingent of over 1,500 military personnel in Eritrea, and said it was unacceptable to make a highly professional and disciplined army fight with both hands tied behind its back and then blame it when things go wrong.

Eritrea, on October 4, prevented all UN helicopters from flying in its airspace, greatly curtailing the activities of the nearly 3,300 strong UN mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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Pointing to Eritrea’s disregarding pleas to lift the ban, Sen said the mission’s efficiency has degraded by over 55 per cent in terms of surveillance, logistics, safety and its evacuation capability, necessary in view of ongoing de-mining operations and also for airlifting the sick and the injured.

Demanding that the Council give Eritrea a definite timeline to lift a ban on helicopters, Sen said it should be made clear to Eritrea that it cannot use what he called “an extraneous instrument for a collateral political or territorial purposes” if it jeopardises the integrity of the mission and the safety of the troops.

The mission currently has 3,293 troops including 214 military observers and is headed by force commander Maj. Gen Rajender Singh. Diplomats attending the meeting, which India requisitioned, said that Jordan, which has the second highest contingent of about 1,000 personnel, threatened to pull out its men unless the Council took a strong stand against Eritrea. The pulling out of the Jordanian contingent would lead to collapse of the mission, they said.

Sen did not go so far as to make a similar threat, but asserted that the continuation of the present situation would mean that the Council was accepting Eritrea’s dictates rather than Eritrea’s abiding by the Council’s decisions, as should be the case.

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The peacekeeping mission was established in 2000 after Algeria and the African Union brokered peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia following two years of a bloody border dispute. The mission is expected to monitor the cessation of hostilities and to also ensure the integrity of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) established between the two countries.

The grounding of helicopters makes it impossible for the mission to monitor whether Eritrea is moving its forces into the TBZ, something which Ethiopia alleges. More importantly, it makes evacuation of any casualties impossible especially as de-mining operations are also going on. —PTI

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