UN seeking involvement of Japan's SDF as a part of monitoring mission in Nepal

At a time when the UN officials are discussing about sending the full-fledged team of monitors for the purpose of monitoring and verification of the process of arms and army management in Nepal, a leading Japanese media has reported that the United Nations has asked Japan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces (SDF) troops as part of a the planned military observer mission in Nepal.

The Japan Times, on November 28, quoted government sources as saying that "the Japanese government will consider whether to send the troops in line with the peacekeeping cooperation law after the Security Council adopts a resolution for the deployment of the military observer group and after the government judges that the troops' safety in Nepal would be ensured."

The UN envisions deploying a 100-member mission and is asking Japan to dispatch about five SDF personnel with experience in Japan's past peacekeeping operations, the media writes. "They would be unarmed and deployed for one year," it quotes the sources as saying. The UN has asked about 20 countries, including Japan, Britain and Croatia, to take part, it further writes.

This news report has come at a time when Ian Martin, Personal Representative of UN Secretary General to Nepal, told media on Saturday that members of the mission won't include those from immediate neighbors of Nepal like India and China.

The UN officials are currently engaged in joint negotiations with the representatives of the government of Nepal and the Maoists to sign a detailed tripartite agreement on the modalities of management of arms and armed personnel.

The UN officials have said that they would be seeking a mandate from the Security Council within this week to undertake the monitoring mission in Nepal. nepalnews.com sd Nov 28 06