UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan called for strengthening the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and said that no discriminatory criteria should be used by host countries to accept peacekeepers.
In his address to the United Nations Security Council‚ Pakistan ambassador to the UN Masood Khan said that Pakistan is carefully considering the request made by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to send troops to South Sudan.
The UN Secretary-General held a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on December 25 as a part of his contacts with world leaders‚ seeking their support to bolster the capacity of UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.
In a statement, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesman had said that Ban Ki-moon was endeavoring to add 5,500 troops to the 7,000 strong UN force in South Sudan to protect civilians from worsening violence in the country which have so far displaced tens of thousands of people.
On Monday, 193-member world body expressed its concerns about the growing number of displaced people in the African country as the humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate in South Sudan.
The United Nations mission in South Sudan said that since the clashes broke out in South Sudan on December 15, about 180,000 people have been displaced in the country and more than 1,000 people have been killed.
