Shanti Prayas IV, a multinational peacekeeping exercise, commenced at the Nepal Army pavilion, Tundikhel in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the event, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said peacekeepers face heightened and multiple threats due to the complex and multi-layered nature of conflicts.

Adapting to this changing scenario is a must as peacekeeping operations have evolved into complex politico-military-humanitarian efforts demanding a greater understanding and preparation on the part of peacekeepers, he said.

“It has thus become crucial to reassess how we deliver peace amid new complex challenges to maintain trust and legitimacy of the UN Peacekeeping.”

Speaking at the event, Chief of Army Staff Prabhu Ram Sharma said Nepal organised three editions of the exercise in 2002, 2013 and 2017. He expressed his belief that the exercise would be fruitful in promoting mutual relations and professionalism among the peacekeepers.

Likewise, Rachel Schiller, the deputy assistant secretary for Programmes and Operations in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the US Department of State, thanked the Nepal government, the Nepal Army and the Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre for hosting the exercise.

“It is because of your enduring commitment to peacekeeping that we are here today and I want to recognise Nepal for its outstanding peacekeeping accomplishments”, she said.

“The United States remains deeply committed to the success of UN peacekeeping, which is why we are not only the largest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping, but we are also the largest bilateral capacity building partner globally through the Global Peace Operations Initiative through which we have committed over $1.5 billion since 2005, to enhance the capacity of partner countries to prepare, deploy and sustain peacekeepers in UN and regional peacekeeping missions.”

The training, supported by the US Global Peace Operation Initiative, is being undertaken in collaboration with the US Army, Nepal Army Directorate of Public Relations and Information said in a statement.

A total of 1,125 soldiers from 19 countries—Bangladesh, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uruguay, the USA, Australia, Canada, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam—are participating in the exercise.

The training for soldiers before their deployment in various peacekeeping missions will be conducted at the Kavrepalanchok-based Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre till March 4.

Nepal is the largest troops-contributing nation for the UN peacekeeping missions. Nepal started participating in the United Nations peace efforts in 1958 by sending five observers to the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL), Lebanon. Purano Gorakh Battalion was sent as the first Nepali contingent in the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF–II), Egypt in 1974, according to the Nepal Army.