Vikrant Shekhawat : Oct 13, 2024, 07:30 PM
Israel-Iran War: For the first time, India has supported a UN statement against an Israeli attack on Lebanon. India has supported the joint statement of the countries contributing to the 'United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon' (UNIFIL), which "strongly condemned" the recent attacks on UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon. It said that such actions should be stopped immediately. Initially, 34 countries had signed the joint statement. This statement came after at least five UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured in recent days.Let us tell you that Israeli troops recently launched attacks in southern Lebanon as part of the campaign against Hezbollah. During this, several personnel of the UN Interim Force were injured in the attack. The joint statement posted on 'X' by Poland's Mission to the United Nations on Saturday said, "We consider the role of UNIFIL particularly important in view of the escalating situation in the region. Therefore, we strongly condemn the recent attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers. Such actions should be stopped immediately and should be investigated properly.''India agreed with the UN statementIndia was not initially mentioned among the co-signatories of this statement. Despite this, India said that it fully agrees with the UN statement. India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a post on 'X', "As a major troop contributing country, India fully agrees with the joint statement issued by 34 UNIFIL troop contributing countries. The safety of peacekeepers is of paramount importance and should be ensured in accordance with existing UNSC resolutions." Earlier in a statement in New Delhi on Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that India is "concerned" about the "deteriorating" security situation in parts of West Asia. Initially, 34 countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, France, Italy, Spain, Sri Lanka and Britain had jointly signed the joint statement.Indian soldiers also work in this missionOne of the reasons for supporting the joint statement against the attack on the personnel of this mission is that India also sends its soldiers to this mission. On Sunday, the Polish Mission to the United Nations announced that India, Colombia, Germany, Peru and Uruguay have supported the statement. The Polish Mission said in a post on 'X', "Currently 40 countries have jointly signed our joint statement. Thanks to Colombia, Germany, Greece, India, Peru and Uruguay. I am also grateful for the support of Switzerland. " As of September 2, 2024, the UNIFIL force consists of a total of 10,058 peacekeepers from 50 troop-contributing countries. India provides 903 soldiers to UNIFIL. The main objective of the UN is to bring stability and lasting peace to South Lebanon as well as West Asia in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.