Kathmandu, September 24

A Nepali Soldier, who was injured in South Sudan in the course of discharging his duty under the United Nations peacekeeping mission, is out of danger.

According to the Nepali Army, the soldier was shot in the ankle on September 15 by the People’s Liberation Army and he was taken to hospital in the country’s capital Juba for further treatment. “He is totally out of danger and treatment is going on,” said the NA spokesperson and brigadier general Gokul Bhandaree.

With around 42 peacekeeping missions around the world since 1958, the NA has sent around 122,721 soldiers for global peacekeeping. Till now, 63 blue helmeted Nepali personnel have lost their lives and 66 have been disabled, according to the NA.

Former UN secretary general Ban-Ki-Moon once said about Nepal and Nepali soldiers that ‘You (Nepal) have given us your best resources — your men and women. Some have sacrificed their lives for the cause of peace under the UN Flag’.

Former major general and security expert Binoj Basnyat said we have to focus on the changing pattern of threats and train and equip our soldiers accordingly to modern-day threats. “The person who dies in a UN mission has scarified for the country and must be honoured by the state,” he said, adding, the changes in the pattern of threats in the world will require different model of peace keeping with more involvement of our forces.

Nepal also became the sixth nation to send more troops to UN peacekeeping besides Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Rwanda. Basnyat said one of fundamental objective of Nepal’s foreign policy is aimed at contributing to global peace, harmony and security. “The Nepali Army, Armed Police and Nepal Police’s active participation has enhanced the dignity of Nepal,” he said.

He further said the Nepal government must look at supporting global peace by enhancing not just the capabilities of our forces but politically and diplomatically Nepal’s name and fame. Nepal became a member of the United Nations in 1955 and began peacekeeping with a modest deployment of five military observers in Lebanon (United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon) in 1958.

The first Nepali contingent, Purano Gorakh Battalion was deployed in Egypt in 1974. “UN peacekeeping mission has been a golden opportunity for Nepali soldiers in terms of earning money,” said security expert Geja Sharma, adding, if there is no Nepali participation in UN peacekeeping mission for soldiers, it will be hard to find enrollment in the army.”

He also said there are traditional and non-traditional security threats in the world these days. “We should be ready to cope with them in peacekeeping missions,” he added.

On the role of NA’s peacekeeping missions, he said the NA was not only doing the job, but also contributing to the country’s international relations and diplomacy in the countries where they were deployed. He added, “They also build grassroots level relations with people where they are deployed.”