Countries pledge 30000 United Nations peacekeepers at United Nations summit

United Nations peacekeepers parade during celebrations marking Ivory Coast’s 55th anniversary of independence from France, in front of the presidential palace in Abidjan.

During a state visit to Washington on Friday, Xi agreed with U.S. President Barack Obama that both countries would increase their “robust” peacekeeping commitments.

“China will join the new United Nations peacekeeping capability readiness system, and has thus made a decision to lead in setting up a permanent peacekeeping police squad and build a peacekeeping standby force of 8,000 troops”, Xi said.

A key player in peacekeeping in Africa, Rwanda offered two attack helicopters, two field hospitals, an all-female police unit and 1,600 new troops, while India pledged 850 additional troops.

Europe, which has largely dropped out of the peacekeeping business in recent years, was represented by several leaders.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address the summit. “We know that peace operations are not the solution to every problem”, Obama told a peacekeeping summit organized by the United States on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“As the largest contributor to peacekeeping operations, I am issuing new USA directives, double U.S. officers”. Elsewhere, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, peacekeepers are countering violent armed militias; in Mali they are confronting the proliferation of improvised explosive devices.

The new commitments will give Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon the leeway to remove units whose soldiers face accusations and replace them without weakening a mission.

He assured that if the steps that he had announced were embraced, then it would strengthen the peace operations for the decades to come.

The head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan spoke of the difficulty of protecting civilians without required “logistical, financial and human resources that fit the mandate, expectations and realities on the ground”, including close air support, intelligence and medical evacuation capability.

At the United Nations on Sunday, Xi said China would contribute an initial US$2 billion to establish an assistance fund for meeting post-2015 goals in areas such as education, health care and economic development.