UN To Honour 2 Indian Peacekeepers Posthumously; Guterres To Also Felicitate Major Abhilasha Barak

New Delhi: The United Nations will honour two Indian peacekeepers posthumously on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Friday for sacrificing their lives while serving in UN missions. Lance Havildar Harbhajan Singh, who served with the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and Naib Subedar Sujit Kumar Pradhan, who was deployed with the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), will be awarded the prestigious Dag Hammarskjold Medal by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.The UN will also honour Major Abhilasha Barak of India with the 2025 Military Gender Advocate of the Year award for her work towards women empowerment and gender sensitisation during her deployment in Lebanon under the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).Major

Barak, known as the Indian Army’s first woman combat helicopter pilot, is currently serving as the commander of the Female Engagement Team in Lebanon.She will become the third Indian officer to receive the award after Major Suman Gawani and Major Radhika Sen, who were also recognised for their contributions in UN peacekeeping missions.India has lost nearly 180 peacekeepers while serving under the UN flag - the highest among all troop-contributing countries.India is currently the second-largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, with more than 4,200 military and police personnel, including 155 women, deployed across missions in Abyei, Cyprus, Congo, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara.At present, more than 50,000 civilian, military and police personnel are serving in UN peacekeeping missions around the world.