Description
India is amongst the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping forces, providing 200,000 troops to 49 different missions since 1950’s1. In the recent years, India’s role has increasingly evolved to include peacebuilding support wherein, it provides development and economic aid to post-conflict fragile states. This process of increased cooperation with the UN and several developing, post-conflict nation-states has led to India’s acceptability as a democratic and collaborative nation-state on the international platform. Simultaneously, the country is also experiencing the ongoing conflict of Kashmir, where India’s domestic policy has been that of military control in order to curb any secessionist politics and movements of self-determination. The theoretical framework of critical peacebuilding has analysed the leveraging of international cooperation to extend policy goals for different states. This paper will utilise the framework of critical peacebuilding to understand the specific case of India, its position, strategy and participation in the UN peacekeeping and peacebuilding projects. Additionally, this paper hopes to explore the linkages and cleavages between India’ UN participation and its domestic policy towards the conflict of Kashmir.
