India and UNEF (1956–1967)

Abstract From the early 1950s on, India was one of the most significant contributors to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. Scholars have offered differing explanations about why India historically made a strong, consistent commitment to peacekeeping in distant regions during the Cold War. This article focuses on one crucial case: India's contribution to the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Gaza Strip, which was the first deployment of Indian combat troops for UN peacekeeping. A close examination of India's decisions to take part in UNEF during the Middle Eastern crises in 1956 and 1967 shows how evolving international, regional, domestic, and personality factors affected specific Indian decisions to participate in (and to withdraw from) peacekeeping efforts over time.