Lieutenant-General Mohan Subramanian was appointed as Force Commander at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan in July 2022. After almost four years leading around 14,000 military peacekeepers, his service at UNMISS and 40-year career in the Indian Army has come to an end. On his departure, he shared his experiences and how it has changed him professionally and personally.
Q: What was your top priority after deploying to UNMISS as the new Force Commander?
A: Nothing that I had done in thirty-six years of military service could have prepared me for this role which is very different from a military tenure. You cannot just issue orders. You've got to explain them. You've also got to understand the ethos of different countries working under you and talk to each contingent in a way in which their own commanding officers would talk. Our peacekeepers are on the frontlines, working in austere conditions, doing a job that we plan for them at Headquarters in Juba. Winning their trust and respect and making them feel that, from the Force Commander to the woman or man in the forward-most sentry post, we are all for one and one for all was the biggest and most urgent leadership challenge. Once you achieved it, the Force responds to you like one well-oiled machine and I’ve enjoyed creating that atmosphere. Leadership is all about visible and physical contact with everybody in your command. You can't sit in an air-conditioned office in Juba and command a multinational force of 14,000 strength. You've got to be with them on the ground.
Q: Protection of civilians is a core part of the UNMISS mandate. How have you strengthened the mission’s efforts?
A: It has been important to change mindsets from the grassroots level upwards and to further develop the toolkit that we have at our disposal to protect civilians and help deter violence. Our protective presence has a significant impact, but we can’t be everywhere, all the time. Our focus was on getting all contingents to think and work together as well as developing our toolkit, like doing more long-duration patrols and night patrols. We also expanded our work beyond protection of civilians from physical violence to focus more intensively on conflict-related sexual violence as well as the calamitous effects of climate change, including extreme flooding, which has severely impacted civilians in places like Unity. This is not just about Force, it is collective, integrated effort across the mission.
Q: Is there an example that you share of when UNMISS’ protection of civilians efforts were particularly successful?
A: In April last year, a peacekeeping patrol helped prevent a real crisis in Marial Lou. They arrived in the area to find that more than 100 girls had been confined inside a school with armed youth encircling them and threatening to take them hostage in retaliation for a cattle raid. Shots were fired into the air, but the peacekeepers held their ground standing between the girls and the guns. They negotiated with the armed youth for hours and, by nightfall, secured an agreement for them to stand down. Another memorable incident was in Maper where a 24-year-old Nepalese officer, Bhagawan Thapa Magar, heard gunfire at 2am and immediately dispatched 22 soldiers to the scene of a major attack on a village, saving around 70 lives. These are the kinds of examples that inspire us to be agile and robust in our approach.
Q: While there are success stories, have there been times when we fell short or could have responded differently or faster?
A: Without doubt, there were moments when we could have done better. But none of those moments were due to a lack of trying. They are things that happen in conflict. At the level of a Captain or Major who is on the ground, there may be five or six options in front of them and they choose the best they can at that time, often under pressure and with limited information. As Force Commander, I may have taken wrong decisions, but they were taken in good faith and we were willing to learn from them. One of the most important things we have learnt is the critical need to integrate with our civilian colleagues to understand what is happening, why, and how to respond. Our decision-making and actions must be mission wide.
Q: How has the political situation in South Sudan affected Force?
A: The political process has serious implications for the functioning of UNMISS, not just the military side, but all of us. One of the main ways that it manifests on the ground as a problem for Force is when you don’t have the full backing of the host nation and experience access denials. Sometimes we are prevented from doing what we ought to do by the dictates of the mandate which frustrates you because you could have saved lives by being at the right time at the right place. You could have reported things properly by being at the right time at the right place. When you are prevented from doing so, all in the name of security, then you wonder the purpose of your being here. So, access denials are a major problem.
Q: What has been the impact of changes within United Nations peacekeeping, including the financial crisis?
A: Adapting to changing circumstances is a daily responsibility. But the fundamental fact is that United Nations peacekeeping remains the most credible, reliable, and cost-effective tool available to the international community in addressing challenges to peace and security. There are other options, but none measure up to peacekeeping. That’s not to say there are no challenges and no reasons for us to make change. We must be more effective and efficient. We must ensure that we provide a bang for the buck that the international community invests in us. We must continuously evolve and improve ourselves. But while we may have shortcomings, this should not be a reason for peacekeeping being derided as ineffective. There are numerous examples of peacekeeping success where we have necessary impetus and support to do our job.
Q: Given the significant challenges, how can we manage expectations?
A: I have found the best approach to be what I call the three T's: be truthful and transparent in what you say and timely in disseminating information. That is fundamental to earning the trust and respect of all mission components, the country and communities. You must explain what cannot be done up front. In terms of what can be done, you must say, if A, B, C, D, E are provided, we can do E. If you make things very clear and you're ready to accept both your successes and failures with broad shoulders and tell everybody that this is what we tried and this is what has happened, people will have that much extra respect for you. So that’s the way to go. If you’re truthful, transparent and timely in communicating, everything else will fall in place.
Q: What advice do you have for your successor and the mission more generally as you depart?
A: The mandate must remain our central priority, particularly the requirement to protect civilians. That is what we are here for. The protection of the peace agreement, protection of politicians, protection of our own lives and property, everything can come second to the basic task of protecting ordinary civilians caught in conflict. That should be our guiding light. What different factions think of our actions should be considered but not overwhelm us. We should just do what we ought to do. My advice to Force colleagues is to come with an open mind. While you have a certain knowledge of soldiering in your country that should form the backdrop for your skill set, what you do and how you do it should be determined by the priorities of the United Nations.
A: As you reflect on your time in South Sudan, how has the experience changed you?
Q: There’s one fundamental thing that has changed in me. Thirty-six years before I came, I was always told there is an enemy. Suddenly, I come as a soldier to an environment where there is no enemy, instead there is a suffering community that must be helped. It made me redefine soldiering and its objectives. I think a good soldier is somebody who does not necessarily achieve the political objectives of the government, while that is your goal when you're working in national circumstances, but it is to achieve an alleviation of suffering for the vast silent majority that suffer the perils of conflict.
