June 27, 2023 
Kathmandu: Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka has a courtesy meeting with United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
In a meeting at the Ministry of Defence, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka expressed his happiness at being able to cooperate with the United Nations in international peacekeeping work and expressed his gratitude for the continued support.
He said that Nepal is actively participating in the international peacekeeping work of the United Nations and the Government of Nepal is committed to the peace work carried out by the Secretary General. Expressing happiness for being the second largest country to send peacekeepers to international peacekeeping operations, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka informed that Nepal is committed to send up to 10,000 peacekeepers at the call of the United Nations.
It was informed on the occasion that seven units of about 2,000 troops were kept ready to be deployed in a short period of time if requested by the United Nations.
Defense Minister Khadka said that in order to make the international peacekeeping work effective, Nepal will effectively provide the management of the equipment and vehicles required for each mission and the training of the soldiers engaged in peacekeeping before being deployed in the mission area.
He informed that since Nepal is committed to the United Nations Environment Protection Strategy, projects related to alternative energy to reduce carbon emissions have been conducted in cooperation with the Birendra Peace Work Training Center and various missions.
Deputy Prime Minister Khadka also said that the process has been advanced to make all the missions low-carbon.
The Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Lacroix, praised the role played by Nepal in international peacekeeping work and mentioned that Nepali peacekeepers are also excellent in discipline and performance.
He praised Nepal for continuously deploying peacekeepers unconditionally at the call of the United Nations in a situation where the security environment of peacekeeping missions is becoming challenging.
Deputy Secretary-General Lacroix recently expressed his happiness that the seventh edition of the International Symposium on Cooperation for Technology in Peacekeeping was successfully held and assured that the achievements will be gradually implemented.
Appreciating the role played by Nepal in the implementation of the United Nations Environment Protection Strategy, he said that the United Nations is ready to cooperate with Nepal in making all missions low-carbon.
Earlier, Deputy Secretary General Lacraix had a meeting with Chief of Army Staff Prabhuram Sharma at the military headquarters at Jangi Adda.
The Deputy Secretary General, who is on a four-day visit to Nepal, will also meet with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. During his stay here, he will participate in various programs related to the United Nations and the Nepali Peacekeeping Force. He is scheduled to visit places of tourist importance.
Nepal is currently on the second place in the list of countries that have contributed a lot of troops to the United Nations peacekeeping operations. Nepal is number one among the countries that send the most female soldiers to the peacekeeping force.
Nepal has already committed to send 10,000 peacekeepers if requested by the United Nations.
July 23, 2023 
