Major Abhilasha Barak
New Delhi: United Nations will posthumously honour two Indian peacekeepers on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Friday for making the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.Lance Havildar Harbhajan Singh, who served with UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), and Naib Subedar Sujit Kumar Pradhan, who was deployed with UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), will be posthumously honoured by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres with the prestigious Dag Hammarskjold Medal.Guterres will also present the 2025 Military Gender Advocate of the Year award to Major Abhilasha Barak of India for her exceptional contribution towards women empowerment and gender sensitisation during her deployment with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. Major Barak, widely recognised as the first woman combat helicopter pilot of the Indian Army, is currently serving in Lebanon as commander of Female Engagement Team (FET) under UNIFIL.Major Barak will be the third Indian recipient of the prestigious honour, following Major Suman Gawani and Major Radhika Sen, who were honoured for their commendable work while serving in UN peacekeeping missions.Nearly 180 Indian peacekeepers have made the supreme sacrifice while serving under the UN flag, by far the highest number from any troop-contributing country. India is the second largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping force, with more than 4,200 of its military and police personnel, including 155 women — currently serving UN peace operations across missions in Abyei, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara. At present, over 50,000 civilian, military and police peacekeepers are serving under the UN flag in peacekeeping missions across some of the world’s most complex environments.
