The Peacekeepers: edit in The Nation, Oct 16, 2016

During the United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I), during the Somali Civil War, Pakistan was the first country to respond to the call of the United Nations.
On September 14,1992, five hundred Pakistani troops arrived in Mogadishu to launch the United Nations humanitarian campaign. Since 1960, Pakistan has been actively involved in most of the UN Peacekeeping missions and today is the country with the most troops serving for them.This is a fact that seems to get little traction in international media that has come to see Pakistan as a terrorist state.Some of the notable contributions Pakistan has made are to missions in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Congo and Liberia.The total number of Pakistani troops currently serving in peacekeeping missions is over 10,000.In a fresh resurgence of sectarian violence and militia fighters still refusing to disarm, the Central African Republic is in crisis just weeks before French troops are to withdraw.Pakistani peacekeeping troops shot dead 12 militia fighters who attacked a camp for disabled people on Friday.
In essence, these peacekeeping troops clean up the mess that western states have been making, whether it is former colonialist states like France, Belgium and Britain, or America and its copious catalogue of mismanaged wars.A closer look at UN peacekeeping reveals that troops from relatively poor, populous countries – mostly from Africa and South Asia – account for a huge proportion of the peacekeeping forces worldwide. For instance, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Nepal together contributed over 30 percent of the total number of UN peacekeepers worldwide in 2014.Western states by comparison contributed a mere five percent.While South Asian countries are going all out, laying themselves like doormats for the US and its cronies since the Cold War, the lack of interest in resolving the disputes of South Asia, namely Kashmir, is appalling.In all of its peacekeeping missions, Pakistan has little strategic interest and could exercise impartiality.In contrast, it seems that unless a conflict has strategic value, countries like the US are not really interested in helping the UN, or anyone else.http://nation.com.pk/editorials/16-Oct-2016/the-peacekeepers