U. S.–India Partnership to Support Zambia Peacekeeping Efforts
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By Derrick Sinjela
The Governments of the United States and India collaborated on military medical training to build the capacity of Zambian military personnel who are preparing to deploy on peacekeeping operations.
The collaboration between the United States and India marks an important step in the growing peacekeeping relationship between the two countries and in providing critical training to the Zambian defense forces.
The United States is proud to support Zambia as it plays a significant role in UN peacekeeping operations today, with more than 1,100 Zambian Defense Force troops and police deployed to six different peacekeeping missions.
“Under the U.S. Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), a team of U.S. Department of Defense trainers will partner with two trainers from the Indian Army Medical Corps to prepare personnel from a Zambian Battalion for deployment to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). This medical capacity-building course supports Zambia’s deployments and represents the next step in advancing the U.S.-India peacekeeping partnership,” read a Media Release by Public Affairs Officer , Ms. Deutsch.
The field medical training will improve the skills of the Zambian military medical personnel to respond to a range of medical situations and improve their ability to teach basic first responder skills to soldiers.
This course is part of a longer term effort between the United States and India to cooperate in peacekeeping capacity building with third-country partners.
In 2015, the United States and India initiated a presidentially directed dialogue to explore areas for cooperation in peacekeeping.
The first cooperative activity was to conduct the UN Peacekeeping Course for African Partners (UNPCAP).
Building on the successful cooperation of UNPCAP, the United States and India agreed to include instructors from India’s military into a mobile training team in Africa to support a partner’s ability to effectively prepare and train for peacekeeping deployment.