ISLAMABAD: The United Nations has requested Pakistan to deploy a battalion in the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei, a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan.

UN Under-Secretary General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who concluded his visit to Pakistan on Wednesday, told Dawn that “we are fully confident in the capacity of Pakistani peacekeepers and for that reason we have regular discussions on new deployment”.

Mr Lacroix said because of the conflict between the parties in Sudan and Ethiopia, the UN could not have Ethiopian peacekeepers. “We have to replace all Ethiopian peacekeepers and other contingent. For that reason, UN has asked Pakistan and a number of countries to deploy units there,” he added.

In June 2011, the UN Security Council responded to the urgent situation in Sudan’s Abyei region by establishing the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei. The operation has been tasked with monitoring the flashpoint border between north and south and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, and is authorised to use force in protecting civilians and humanitarian workers in Abyei.

Pakistan has contributed eight military personnel to the interim security force. Mr Lacroix said Pakistan is one of the most important partners of the UN to peacekeeping. He said Pakistan is among the largest troops contributing countries, a country with which “we have outstanding cooperation for many many years”.

The UN peace operations head, who was in India before his visit to Pakistan, was satisfied with the situation on the Line of Control (LoC). “Our people can observe that the situation is calm for a good number of months, and we welcome that because tension is decreasing,” he said, adding that the number of incidents has reduced, with last incident registered in February 2021, and “we hope that will continue”.

About his meeting in the Foreign Office, Mr Lacroix said the discussions covered “our cooperation, quality of cooperation in terms of peacekeeping, and the deployment of troops we currently have and also way forward, besides discussing the achievements and challenges to peacekeeping”.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2022