UNITED NATIONS: Herve Ladsous, the outgoing French diplomat who headed the UN Department for Peacekeeping for over five years, on Friday lauded Pakistan and three other South Asian nations for providing a large number of troops to the United Nations peacekeeping mission.
“The largest contributors rotate between India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,” he said at his farewell news conference at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Ladsous also lauded the services of Lt Gen Maqsood Ahmed, the Pakistani general who was until recently the UN Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations.
“I should not forget that I worked for three years during my tenure with Gen Maqsood, the splendid Pakistani general, [who] was my military adviser and I can tell you we got along very well,” he said.
“Countries of the region, yes, they have been very active peacekeepers, they have paid the price, unfortunately, in terms of casualties, but I appreciated very much their role and their contribution during my tenure.”
Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Pakistan’s contributions towards international peace and security.
“Pakistan plays an important role at the UN,” said the UN chief while speaking to Pakistani journalists during an event organised to mark Pakistan Day.
Guterres, who has also led the UN’s refugee agency for a decade, paid tributes to Pakistani peacekeepers serving in several UN missions and recalled how some of them even made great sacrifices for the global peace cause.
The UN chief also witnessed a display work projecting Pakistan’s rich cultural history and photographs of Pakistani women who excelled in their respective professions.
“I am familiar with Pakistan’s history, having read some books about the country,” Guterres remarked when he saw portraits of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal