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UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations will cut a quarter of peacekeepers in 11 operations around the world in the coming months due to a lack of money, senior UN officials said on Wednesday, and as future funding from the United States remains uncertain.
“Overall, we will have to repatriate... around 25 percent of our total peacekeeping troops and police, as well as their equipment, and a large number of civilian staff in missions will also be affected,” said a senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
That would amount to between 13,000 and 14,000 troops and police, the official said.
Washington is the UN’s largest peacekeeping contributor, accounting for more than 26 percent of funding, followed by China which pays nearly 24 percent. These payments are not voluntary.
The US was already $1.5 billion in arrears before the new financial year began on July 1, said a second UN official. Washington now also owes an additional $1.3 billion, taking its total outstanding bill to more than $2.8 billion.
The US has told the UN it will make a payment shortly of $680 million, the first UN official said. The US mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US President Donald Trump in August unilaterally canceled some $800 million in peacekeeping funding appropriated for 2024 and 2025, according to a Trump administration message to Congress.

Trump has long claimed that international institutions have taken advantage of the United States and has overseen massive cuts to US foreign aid since his return to the White House in January.
The White House budget office has also proposed eliminating funding for UN peacekeeping missions in 2026, citing failures of operations in Mali, Lebanon and Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN has peacekeeping operations in the Middle East, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Kosovo, Cyprus, Central African Republic, Western Sahara, the Golan Heights demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria, Abyei — an administrative area jointly run by South Sudan and Sudan — and on a ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also more broadly seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs as the world body turns 80 this year amid a cash crisis.

The announcement “potentially means a significant reduction in protection for things like humanitarian convoys and the civilians who rely on aid,” Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch told AFP.
“We hope the UN will prioritize lifesaving humanitarian and human rights activities,” he added.
Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said the cuts’ impact on the ground “will vary case by case.”
“In somewhere like South Sudan, where peacekeepers offer many civilians a little protection and there was nearly a new war this year, cutting back peacekeepers sends a very bad signal.”

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban foreign minister left for New Delhi on Wednesday, his ministry said, in what would be the first visit to India by a Taliban leader since the group seized power in 2021.

The trip highlights Taliban efforts to expand engagement with regional powers in a quest for economic ties and eventual diplomatic recognition. So far, Russia is the only country to have formally recognized the Taliban administration.

Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will hold talks with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other officials on political, economic and trade issues, the Afghan foreign ministry added.

Historically, India and Afghanistan had friendly relations but New Delhi shut its embassy in Kabul after the 2021 US withdrawal from the war-shattered country and the return to power of the Taliban.

India opened a small mission a year later to facilitate trade, medical support and humanitarian aid.

New Delhi does not officially recognize the Taliban government but has taken tentative steps to thaw ties with meetings and talks between senior officials in their respective foreign ministries.

Muttaqi’s trip was made possible after the UN Security Council Committee temporarily lifted a travel ban on him to allow diplomatic engagements abroad, India’s foreign ministry said last week.

Discussions during Muttaqi’s trip will center on bilateral cooperation, trade exchanges, exports of dry fruit, facilities in the health sector, consular services and various ports, the Afghan Taliban foreign ministry said last week.

On Tuesday, Muttaqi attended a regional meeting in Moscow where Afghanistan’s neighbors including India, Pakistan, Iran, China and several Central Asian countries issued a joint statement opposing the deployment of foreign military infrastructure in the region.

The statement was regarded as a signal of opposition to US President Donald Trump’s stated objective to retake control of the Bagram military base near Kabul.