Pakistan on Friday joined the international community in celebrating "International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers".
As a consistent leading troop contributing country, Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said Pakistan was cognizant of the important role played by the UN peacekeepers in maintaining security and stability in so many of the world's conflict zones.
"We salute the services and sacrifices rendered by peacekeepers from around the world and reiterate our solemn commitment to continue working with the United Nations for the ideals of peace, stability and cooperation espoused by the 'blue helmets'," she added.
Farooqui stated that Pakistan was proud of its long-standing contributions to the UN peacekeeping spanning over six decades. "Our peacekeepers have earned well-deserved respect and goodwill for their professionalism and devotion to duty in every mission they have participated in," she added.
Since 1960, Farooqui added that over 200,000 of our servicemen have served with honour and distinction in 46 UN missions in 26 countries in almost all continents of the world.
"177 of our gallant peacekeepers have made the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of international peace and security," she added. Farooqui said Pakistan had also led the way in deputing female peacekeepers in a record time.
In 2019, she added Pakistan met the 15 percent benchmark set by the UN Secretariat in the staff/officers category. "Our lady police officer Shahzadi Gulfam was the first ever recipient of International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2011," she added.
Farooqui said that Pakistan's contribution to peacekeeping on ground had been complemented by our sustained engagement in policy development in peacekeeping. "We bring a unique perspective to peacekeeping as a leading troop contributing country as well as a host country to one of the oldest peacekeeping missions, UNMOGIP."