Page 28 - A Gender-Sensitive Indian Foreign Policy- Why? and How?

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agenda has really taken off, again in words, if not always in deeds. This is
a good time to add that some commentators have highlighted the links
between feminist foreign policy and WPS; a 2014 article published in Foreign
Policy described feminist foreign policy as a ‘perspective that flows from
Resolution 1325’. 6

The three points relating to India’s engagement with WPS at the Security
Council that I focus on here are: first, the record so far; second, a possible
way forward; and third, issues that would need to be addressed as India goes
ahead with this approach.

On the first point, it is fairly well-established that India’s stance on WPS
has been ‘outward-oriented’, i.e. its interests have focused on the agenda’s
broader normative orientation and implementation of the resolutions in
situations that are identified as threats to international peace and security.
India co-sponsored three WPS resolutions during the period 2009-2010,
incidentally just prior to beginning its seventh term as an elected Council
member in January 2011; these are resolutions 1888, 1889 and 1960. During
its 2011-2012 term, it served twice as the President of the Council. When
it held the second presidency in November 2012, India convened an open
meeting on WPS, which is notable; during its first presidency in August 2011,
the open meeting had focused on peacekeeping.

In its own statements at WPS-related meetings, India has touched upon
several aspects of the agenda, but it’s more substantive contributions have
been in relation to UN peace operations. The focus on peacekeeping is no
surprise because, as one of the highest troop contributors to UN peace
operations, it has positioned itself as a key stakeholder in this arena. The
deployment of the female formed police unit as part of the UN mission
in Liberia is well-known. But, India has demonstrated interest in the
‘protection’ pillar as well.
The success of the female peacekeepers in Liberia, and the international
attention that their efforts have garnered, has been highlighted at numerous
statements made at the Security Council, by India and other member states.
Notably, ‘one of the key reasons given for the FFPU’s deployment was to curb
sexual exploitation and abuse of women in conflict regions’. More recently,
7
India made a donation of approximately 300,000 US dollars to the UN
Department of Field Support for the ‘Pipeline to Peacekeeping Command
Programme’, highlighting specifically ‘issues of conduct and discipline’.

Zooming out again, it would be safe to say that India’s position on WPS
has evolved and changed over the last twenty years, certainly with regard

28 6 Rotschild, Natalie (2014) ‘Swedish women vs. Vladimir Putin’, Foreign Policy, 5 Dec.
7 Basu, Soumita and Laura J. Shepherd (2018) ‘Prevention in pieces: representing conflict in the women, peace
and security agenda’, Global Affairs, 3:4-5, p. 448.

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