India has warned against using peacekeeping operations as substitute for the task of nation-building or economic development.
They cannot be stand-ins for a negotiated political settlement and peacekeeping operations should not be intrusive or interventionists, UN Ambassador Vijay Nambiar told the Security Council.
Participating in the debate on the peacekeeping operations, Nambiar said peacekeepers do not have any "intrinsic role in conflict resolution or in addressing the underlying causes of conflict especially where these are largely socio-economic in nature such as poverty and deprivation."
"A peacekeeping operation is an interim measure and of limited duration. It is part of a broader international engagement," he added.
Decrying the tendency to confuse peacekeeping with post-conflict peace building, he said approaches based on ground realities and evoked with the participation of the governments are likely to be more successful than those seen as imported from abroad.
"Post-conflict peacekeeping cannot be achieved through peacekeepers, the majority of which are groups of observers or formed contingents with no knowledge, experience or mandate to take on economic, social and other tasks association with post-conflict reconstruction," he added.