Eleven police officers from various states in Indian will be joining the United Nations peacekeeping mission for a period of one year in Sudan in the next few days. These officers undergo a rigorous selection procedure before being eligible to serve the prestigious peace keeping force. They will be serving as individual police officers in various UN posts in different states of the African nation.The contingent has three officers from Karnataka, one each from Mizoram and Meghalaya in the North-east, two from Chandigarh and one each from Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana. There are five women officers in this contingent who are upbeat about their upcoming role. “It is an honour to be selected to be a part of the UN peacekeeping force. We look forward to keeping the tricolour flying high and serve to the best of our ability,” said Ranu Sharma, the lone officer from Rajasthan.India is one of the top contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. More than 200,000 military and police personnel have served over the past 70 years and 168 Indian military personnel have lost their lives under the UN flag till 2019. India is the second largest contributor of peacekeepers to United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) with more than 2,400 military and police personnel deployed in the mission.