Blitz Bureau
Brigadier Amitabh Jha and Havildar Sanjay Singh, who died while serving in peacekeeping missions, were honoured with the Dag Hammarskjold medals, reported IANS.
India’s Permanent Representative P Harish received the medals from SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres at a ceremony honouring the peacekeepers who died in the service of the UN.
Jha was the acting force commander of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) that is deployed in the Golan Heights to monitor the ceasefire between Israel and Syria after the 1973 war. Jha “played a pivotal role in managing a critical security situation which evolved during the Syrian crisis in December 2024”, a citation from India said.
“Jha was a man who stood his ground — as was evident from the way he handled affairs of UNDOF as the acting force commander. He will be admired by his friends and detractors,” the citation said.