The Hindu : Front Page : India yet to decide on continuing in revamped UNIFIL

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 17, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

India yet to decide on continuing in revamped UNIFIL

Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI: India is still to make up its mind on whether or not its troops will continue in the soon-to-be-revamped United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

This is because the U.N. has not taken any decision about the conditions under which up to 15,000 additional troops are to be deployed in Lebanon.

``We will decide on whether or not our troops remain in Lebanon only after the mandate of the new force is known," South Block officials told this correspondent on Wednesday. As of now, India has not taken any view on the matter since the U.N. is still to work out what the new force is expected to do.

Kept out of discussions

India, which already has troops on the ground, appears to have been kept out of diplomatic discussions held by French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy with his Turkish, Pakistani and Malaysian counterparts, Abdullah Gul, Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and Syed Hamid Albar, in Beirut on Wednesday.

France, which is likely to command the new UNIFIL, has been active on the diplomatic front in ensuring the passage of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 under which the new force will come into being.

The new force is expected to back and support 15,000 Lebanese troops being moved up to the Israeli border even as Israeli and Hizbollah forces are to pull back from the area.

The operative part of the resolution stated: ``Welcoming the unanimous decision by the Government of Lebanon on August 7, 2006 to deploy a Lebanese armed force of 15,000 troops in south Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws behind the Blue Line and to request the assistance of additional forces from UNIFIL as needed, to facilitate the entry of the Lebanese armed forces into the region ... "

Control over territory

While stressing the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory so that there ``will be no weapons'' without the country's consent, the new Security Council resolution provides that the UNIFIL, along with the Lebanese forces, will ensure this.

Currently, 1,990 troops are deployed under the French command in the UNIFIL, which was set up by Security Council Resolution 425 in 1978 and tasked to maintain a ceasefire along the 121-km-long ``Blue Line'' between Israel and Lebanon by patrolling, reporting the violations and liaising with the parties.

A UNIFIL fact sheet candidly admits that the Force has not been able to fulfil its mandate. ``Cross-border fighting continued [after 1978], Israel did not completely withdraw and the authority of the Government of Lebanon was not restored in the South. Under the circumstances, UNIFIL could not fulfil its responsibilities under [Resolution] 425," it said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page