India is considering sending troops to join the United Nations peacekeeping force in Liberia, but the Indian Army is concerned about the domination of West African units, especially the Nigerians, a senior government official told rediff.com
"We will take some time before coming to a conclusion on the deployment," he said.
The UN on August 2 authorised peacekeepers for Liberia, which has been ravaged by civil war for over 14 years.
"The situation is still tense, there is a severe shortage of food items and chaos continues to prevail in rural areas. We are conscious of it," the official said.
He pointed out that a few days back an armed crowd attacked Upjit Singh Sachdeva, India's honorary counsel general to Liberia, and ransacked his office.
"But he has recommended an early entry of the Indian Army into Liberia," the official said.
The Indian Army, however, says it is concerned about various aspects of the possible deployment.
In Sierra Leone, which is in the neighbourhood of Liberia, Major General V K Jaitley, who was the overall commander of the UN forces, had 'major problems' with his Nigerian deputy. His memo accusing Nigerians of profiting from Sierra Leone diamonds provided by rebels led to a furore. Eventually Jaitley and Indian troops left Sierra Leone in a huff.
Indian troops also had several stand offs with the Sierra Leone rebels who were receiving active support from Charles Taylor, who fled Liberia under a peace agreement about a fortnight back.
Over 20 Indian soldiers, who were taken hostage by the Sierra Leone rebels, were released in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, after the reported intervention of Taylor.
"Our relations with the Nigerians and other West African troops in Sierra Leone was not satisfactory. We don't want a repeat," said a senior army officer.
Presently only West African peacekeeping troops are in Liberia. With over 1500 of its soldiers in the force of over 2000, Nigerians dominate the force. Senegal and Mali have 250 soldiers each. A small contingent of US Marines are also stationed in Monrovia.
After stationing about 3500 peacekeepers, the West Africans would hand over the control of the operations to the UN a few months later. "But even then, the UN will have to satisfy West African demands because of their sheer numbers," said the officer.
And this could bring in a Nigerian as the overall commander of the peacekeepers in Liberia, he said.
There are, however, other positive aspects of the Liberian peacekeeping mission that government is talking about.
"We have our historic ties to Africa. Peacekeeping is a long-term investment for goodwill and an expression of our concerns for the people of Liberia," a senior official said.
Besides, he pointed out the UN Security Council resolution has a specific provision that takes into consideration the sentiments of countries such as the US and India over the International Criminal Court.
The resolution says it will not allow International Criminal Court to punish soldiers of the Liberian peacekeeping force if the soldiers are from countries that have not ratified the treaty.
India and the US are among the countries that have refused to sign the ICC treaty. When the Liberian resolution was put to vote in the UNSC, France, Germany and Mexico had boycotted the vote because of the provision.
"At the moment there is nothing," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Navtej Sarna said about the possibility of troops for Liberia.
