core sector communique

Assam Riffles Contigent Leaves for Haiti

The third contigent of Assam Riffles comprising ten officers and 150 men left New Delhi for Haiti today. The contingent is led by Commandant R C Kothari. Major General R K Lakhanpaul, Officiating Director General of Assam Rifles addressed the contingent and bid them farewell. The Government had sanctioned services of Assam Rifles for five years in Haiti with effect from 2010. The Contingents of the Force are being sent in rotation for one year. The first contingent which had gone to Haiti in 2010 was awarded with unit citation of UN Police Commissioner and Indian Ambassador to Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Force will be serving the UN mandate to restore a secure and stable environment in Haiti in order to promote a political process for strengthening Haiti’s Govt institutions and rule of law. Besides India, 41 other countries have deployed their personnel for UN Operations in Haiti It may be recalled that Haiti had suffered a severe earth quake in 2010 in which 2.2 lakh persons including 160 UN peace keepers had lost their lives. The reconstruction work is still going on for which UN is playing a major role.