a review is necessary of the criteria for India sending its soldiers on such missions. Most of these conditions have been met as best as they can be in UNAMSIL.
The UNPKO in Africa are riddled with tribal politics and deep-set enmities between warring factions. Hostage-taking is common. It first occurred 40 years ago in the Congo. At that time, Indian peacekeepers in the Congo were the target. But then, as now, UN hostages were insurance against adversity. It was the Indian brigade that militarily prevented the copper-rich province of Katanga from seceding. Currently, a second peacekeeping operation has been planned for the Congo. Copper in the Congo, like diamonds in Sierra Leone, are part of the big game in Africa to control strategic minerals.
But three key aspects not factored in the Sierra Leone conundrum are local and regional politics in West African states, the military intervention by Britain outside UNAMSIL and the diamond connection. So Sierra Leone has the makings of another Somalia.
Further, this is the first time in Indian peacekeeping operations that rebels have disarmed its soldiers and its patrols and garrisons have been rendered non-operational. This is most surprising. Equally surprising is the fact that action to undo the impasse has been delayed for weeks. But till there is an accurate situation report, speculation is inadvisable.
There still seems to be no change in the plight of the 21 hostages and 213 besieged Gorkha soldiers. Some reports suggest that the hostages are incommunicado, presumably taken out across the border to Liberia. The two Gorkha companies, previously partially besieged, have been surrounded by the rebels. Their leader, Foday Sankoh, who is to be the vice-president of Sierra Leone, is being held under the orders of President Kabban.
It was obvious from day one of the siege that the Gorkhas were being held as a bargaining chip for any adverse political or military contingency. Lest any harm come to the Gorkhas, the Indian commander of UNAMSIL, Major General V K Jetley, has given a stern warning to the rebels whom UNAMSIL is meant to disarm. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has requested Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo, who was the chief guest at this year's Republic Day celebrations, to get the hostages freed. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has also spoken to West African leaders.
UNAMSIL is mandated under Chapter 6 for peacekeeping and not Chapter 7, which is peace-enforcing. Chapter 6 peacekeepers are entitled to unhindered and free movement and are authorised to use military force to ensure this. But UNAMSIL has kept this as an option of last resort. It is banking on diplomacy backed by force to end the standoff.
Questions are being asked on the advisability of sending Indian soldiers on PKO in countries where India has no stake and when there are enough military missions at home. The war in Sri Lanka has revived the issue of the futility of the IPKF sacrificing nearly 1200 lives in a foreign country. Questions will get more pointed if any of the Gorkhas is bodily harmed and Jetley is belittled. In any case, Jetley has been under great stress.
UNPKO are no longer cut-and-dry assignments involving pacification, policing, and humanitarian support. They are rigged in regional and international politics as well as competing strategic and commercial interests of proxy players. The new buzzword is regional approach: a peacekeeping force along with its commander from that region. In Sierra Leone, the regional formula was tried and failed. UNAMSIL had, therefore, to be brought in.
The mess in Sierra Leone is because there are too many takers for its diamonds. Seventy per cent of the country's economy is supported by the diamond industry located in Sankoh, a rebel-held area in the east of the country where the Gorkhas were deployed and where some of them are being held. But 70 per cent of the diamonds are smuggled out mainly through Liberia, which, next to Nigeria, plays a dominant role in the affairs of Sierra Leone.
The British flew in their elite paratroopers circumventing the UNAMSIL command, primarily to protect their diamond-mining interests in the country and not, as stated, to evacuate 600 British citizens. Fijian Indians must be wondering why India did not play a more proactive role in the standoff in Suva.
Nigeria, which sees itself as a regional power, was heading the West African peacekeeping force till it was replaced by UNAMSIL. Even now, it is the key player. It has the largest military contingent, a deputy force commander to Jetley and the political head to UNAMSIL, a man named Adenji.
Jetley and the Indian peacekeepers are being targeted by the West African states who failed to keep the peace. They have demanded that Jetley be replaced by a man from the region. The last Indian UN commander to have a similar problem was Lt Gen Satish Nambiar in Bosnia when his European colleagues made his task so untenable that he declined an extension of his mandated tenure. Interestingly, Nambiar did not have a single Indian peacekeeper in his command. Jetley, on the other hand, has a strong Indian task force to back him up.
Indian peacekeepers are regarded as among the finest in the game. They have proved excellent ambassadors in distant and troubled lands, exhibiting their professional expertise and working with other armies. India is seeking a place in the UN Security Council. It must continue to support UNPKO and not be discouraged by local difficulties and pressures. While the release of 21 plus 213 Gorkhas must be obtained quickly through diplomacy or use of force, in no circumstances should the Indians quit. This is precisely the regional strategy.
(Maj Gen Mehta was a member of the Indian peacekeeping forces in the Congo in 1961 and in Sri Lanka in 1987.)
General Ashok K
Mehta
Major General Ashok K Mehta (retd)