United Nations Protection Force in the context of "Republic of Serbian Krajina"

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the UN system and is the primary organ charged with ensuring international peace and security. Its powers as outlined in the UN Charter include authorizing military action, establishing peacekeeping operations, recommending the admission of new members to the UN General Assembly, approving any changes to the Charter, and enacting international sanctions. Chapter VII of the UN Charter gives the Security Council the power to identify threats to international peace and security and to authorize responses, including the use of force. Security Council resolutions adopted under Chapter VII are binding on UN members and are therefore a source of international law. The Security Council is the only UN body with the authority to issue resolutions that are binding on its member states.

Like the United Nations as a whole, the Security Council was created after World War II in 1945 in the hope of preventing future wars and maintaining world peace, as the League of Nations had been formed following World War I. It held its first session on 17 January 1946 but was largely paralyzed in the following decades by the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (and their allies). Nevertheless, it authorized military interventions in the Korean War, the Congo Crisis, and peacekeeping missions in Cyprus, West New Guinea, and the Sinai Peninsula. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, UN peacekeeping efforts increased dramatically in scale, with the Security Council authorizing major military and peacekeeping missions in Kuwait, Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a series of actions undertaken by NATO whose stated aim was to establish long-term peace during and after the Bosnian War. NATO's intervention began as largely political and symbolic, but gradually expanded to include large-scale air operations and the deployment of approximately 60,000 soldiers of the Implementation Force. At the same time, a large UN peacekeeping force, the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), made mostly of NATO countries troops, was deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. A Rapid Reaction Force (RRF), also under UN mandate, was established around Sarajevo during the later stages of the conflict.

The United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) was established on 31 March 1995 in Security Council Resolution 983 to replace the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the Republic of Macedonia. The mandate of UNPREDEP remained essentially the same: to monitor and report any developments in the border areas which could undermine confidence and stability in the country and threaten its territory. It is widely considered to be an instance of a successful deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in the prevention of conflict and violence against civilians. The operation was shut down on 28 February 1999, after its last extension in Resolution 1186 when China vetoed its renewal in 1999 following Macedonia's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan. This mission was unique as it was the first peacekeeping operation to undertake conflict prevention before the outbreak of conflict. The premature termination of UNPREDEP in 1999 predates the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia.

The United Nations Confidence Restoration Operation in Croatia, commonly abbreviated UNCRO, was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Croatia. It was established under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter and approved by the UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 981 on 31 March 1995. UNCRO inherited personnel and infrastructure from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). Its command was located in Zagreb; the peacekeeping troops were deployed in four sectors named North, South, East, and West. Twenty different countries contributed troops to the mission.

UNCRO started with more than 15,000 troops taken over from UNPROFOR; the personnel count was gradually reduced to approximately 7,000 by the end of the mission in early 1996. South Korean diplomat Byung Suk Min was the civilian head of the mission, while the military commanders of UNCRO were Generals Raymond Crabbe and Eid Kamal Al-Rodan. UNCRO was linked with UNPROFOR, which remained active in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), which was deployed in the Republic of Macedonia. The mission was terminated on 15 January 1996 by UNSC Resolution 1025, passed on 30 November 1995. Sixteen UNCRO troops were killed, including four during Operation Storm in August 1995.

United Nations Security Council resolution 743, adopted unanimously on 21 February 1992, after reaffirming resolutions 713 (1991), 721 (1991), 724 (1991), 727 (1992) and 740 (1992), and considering that the situation in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia constituted a threat to international peace and stability, the council established a peacekeeping mission in the country, known as the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), with the aim of reaching a peaceful political settlement in the region.

The council also decided to deploy the Force for an initial period of twelve months, further deciding that the arms embargo on Yugoslavia should not apply to weapons and military equipment intended for UNPROFOR. It requested the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to take measures to deploy the Force as soon as possible, subject to approval by the council, including a budget which will be partly offset by the Yugoslav parties but noting that UNPROFOR is an interim arrangement. Financing was discussed at the General Assembly on 19 March 1992. The resolution also required him to submit reports as appropriate and not less than every six months, with the first report due within two months on the progress in the region.

India has taken part in more than 49 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 200,000 troops and a significant number of police personnel having been deployed and more than 160 Indian peacekeepers have died serving under the UN flag as of September 2022. In 2014 India is the third largest troop contributor country [TCC] with 7,860 personnel deployed with ten UN Peacekeeping Missions of which 995 are police personnel, including the first Female Formed Police Unit under the UN.Even in the year 2024, India has been the biggest contributor of personnel deployed across 12 UN peace-keeping missions across the world. At 5,901, India had sent the highest number of military personnel for United Nations peace-keeping missions as of December 31, 2023, data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Indian Peacekeepers were previously lauded by the UN for their efforts in preventing a carnage in the South Sudan conflict which resulted in the death of two of its soldiers.

India has so far, provided two Military Advisors (Brig. Inderjit Rikhye and Lt Gen R K Mehta), two Police Advisers (Ms Kiran Bedi), one Deputy Military Adviser (Lt Gen Abhijit Guha), 14 Force Commanders and numerous Police Commissioners in various UN Missions. Indian Army has also contributed lady officers as Military Observers and Staff Officers apart from them forming part of Medical Units being deployed in UN Missions. The first all women contingent in peacekeeping mission, a Formed Police Unit from India, was deployed in 2007 to the UN Operation in Liberia (UNMIL). Lt Gen Satish Nambiar, a former Indian Army Lieutenant General served as the United Nations Protection Force commander from March 1992 to March 1993. He also served on the "High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change" of the Peacebuilding Commission.

United Nations Security Council resolution 983, adopted unanimously on 31 March 1995, after recalling Resolution 795 (1992) on Macedonia, the Council expressed concern about threats to the stability of the country and established the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) by renaming the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) unit in the country for a period ending 30 November 1995.

The council was determined for the need to protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Macedonia and welcomed the role of UNPROFOR in the country. It was decided that the UNPROFOR unit in Macedonia be renamed to UNPREDEP and that its mandate should continue until 30 November 1995. It was urged to continue co-operation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and for Member States to provide any necessary assistance required.