UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the pledges and commitments made by Sri Lanka to the UN peacekeeping operations.
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State Minister Ruwan Wijewardena is attending the UN’s Peacekeeping Summit which is being held in London.
Chang’s remarks came as China and Britain reaffirmed their commitments to the “golden era” in the bilateral relationship when the leaders of the two countries met in Hangzhou during the G20 summit a few days ago. In the coming three years, China is set to cover 10.2% of all the UN’s costs for peacekeeping expenses around the world.
“This rapid pace of follow up and implementation shows how honest both your and our commitment is, and how determined we all are to turn pledges into better capabilities and real impact on the ground”, he said, stressing the need for a multi-year effort to sustain this level of commitment and determination over time.
British Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon told the press conference that China’s announcements on Thursday marked “a watershed in China’s evolution in playing a greater worldwide role”. In the ministerial meeting, countries contributing to United Nations peacekeeping missions adopted a communique that focuses ways to improve the planning of operations, implement the pledges of support made by countries, and enhance the performance of troops on the ground.
The Defence MoS also drew attention to the challenges being faced by both countries due to increased terrorist activities globally, as well as cross border terrorism being faced by India.
The newly deployed troops will support United Kingdom and UN peacekeepers by providing a new field hospital.
“The Security Council should build consensus before authorizing peacekeeping mandate, be practical and pragmatic in its approach to peacekeeping and ensure that related resolutions are fully implemented”, he said.
The UN peacekeeping forces have permanent personnel of about 90,000 troops tasked with addressing political and military crises at countries with ongoing armed conflicts or war risks.
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The London meeting is a follow-up event of the Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping which was convened past year at the United Nations.
