An Indian peacekeeper is among the 119 military, police and civilian personnel who will be honoured with a prestigious UN medal this year for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty.
Police Officer Jitender Kumar made the supreme sacrifice while serving in the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Central African country of Congo. He will be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold Medal on Friday as the world organisation observes the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin would collect the medal on behalf of the fallen Indian peacekeeper at a solemn ceremony at the UN in New York.
India is the fourth largest contributor of uniformed personnel to the UN peacekeeping.
It currently contributes more than 6,400 military and police personnel to the UN peace operations in Abyei, Cyprus, Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, West Asia, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
