The first South Asian Peacekeeping Experience Seminar was held 8-12 February 1998 in Dhaka, The People's Republic of Bangladesh. The date was selected to mark the 50^th anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping. The Bangladesh Army (BA)hosted the seminar with assistance from Hq., U.S. Commander in Chief, Pacific (USCINCPAC) and Hq., United States Army Pacific (USARPAC).The seminar's participants were military officers and civilian officials from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The seminar's international observers came from Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States, and observers from the United Nations.

This unique seminar was the first attempt by the troop contributing nations of South Asia to capture the many lessons painfully learned over their long and distinguished history in the field of peacekeeping. The Peacekeeping Experience Seminar idea originated with the BA leadership. They wanted to pull together their fellow South Asian uniformed leaders and civilian policymakers in one venue to discuss the past and future of peacekeeping. The seminar focused on four major themes: the role of non-governmental organizations, civil society and the media in United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Operations; the need, financing and operations of a United Nations standby force; Humanitarian interventions and their operational aspects; and, the requirement for a South Asia regional peacekeeping training center.

The seminar's goal was to improve South Asian peacekeeping efforts in the future. Participants and observers from Asia, Europe and North America met for one week in Dhaka to examine the successes and failures of 50 years of peacekeeping. The seminar challenged delegates to see "where we have been, and where we should go." The speakers and group leaders focused their attention on lessons from "what worked in the past," according to one of the senior South Asian military representatives. Cooperation was the watchword of the seminar.

The South Asian Peacekeeping Experience Seminar's opening day ceremony consisted of addresses from Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed; Lt. Gen. Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, Chief of the Bangladesh Army; and Lt. Gen. Manfred Eisele, Assistant Secretary General of the UN Directorate of Peacekeeping. Lt. Gen. Eisele spoke from the UN's perspective on the topic of the post-cold war United Nations peacekeeping challenges. Lt. Gen. William Steele, the Commanding General of U.S. Army Pacific, flew from Hawaii to Dhaka's opening day activities to represent the U.S. Pacific Command.

Brig. K. S. Shiva Kumar of the Indian Army presented the first major theme paper, setting the stage for the demanding week's work on "The Role of Non-governmental Organizations (NGO), the Civil Society Living in the Area of the Peacekeeping Operations, and the Media in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations." The paper and the delegates stressed the need to integrate NGOs, the local and international media representatives and local civilians into the mission's plan. In the judgment of the group, successful peacekeeping under difficult conditions depends on good relations all around. Coordinating the diverse, competing, and sometimes conflicting, activities of the Peacekeeping Force, NGOs, Media and local inhabitants depends upon tact, training, expertise, patience and determination.

Next, the Royal Nepalese Army's Lt. Gen. (Retired) Krishna Narayan Singh Thapa took the seminar in a different direction with a paper on the theme of "United Nations Standby Force: Need, Financing and Operation." Lt. Gen. Thapa and the group agreed that, for rapid deployment and improved readiness, the United Nations needs to have regionally-based, combat-readied forces on standby to meet the ever-increasing number of crisis operations. The seminar delegates came to the conclusion that in order to improve readiness, contributing nations need to have dedicated forces fielded, trained and waiting.

The third theme shifted the focus of the delegates from traditional peacekeeping to Humanitarian Relief, or intervention operations. Maj. Gen. Syed Pervez Shahid, the Commandant of Pakistan's School of Infantry and Training, did a superb job of introducing the participants and observers to this growing area of concern to the world community. The group consensus was that timely, effective, coordinated interventions in humanitarian disasters save lives.

The final theme was the capstone topic of the seminar: "Towards a Regional Peacekeeping Center," presented by Bangladesh Army Brig. Shahedul Anam Khan, the Director General of the joint Foreign-Defense Ministries' Bangladesh Institute of International Strategic Studies. Brig. Shahed and the delegates agreed that training and doctrine will be key to the success of any future peacekeeping operation.

The seminar used the format of paper presentation, small group discussion and deliberation, followed by small group presentation. This format allowed for an in-depth analysis of each topic by the South Asian participants, and the chance to get insights from the representatives of the observer nations. Each of the seminar's themes generated lively discussions, both during the formal portions and after hours.

Everything was not all business. Each evening, a different social event was held to allow the delegates to get better acquainted with one another. An initial "Welcoming Reception" was held to introduce everyone at the home of U.S. Ambassador Jon Holzman. The Bangladesh Army hosted a dinner and cultural evening. The Bangladesh Air Force also hosted a dinner for Dhaka's guests. The Bangladesh Navy alsotook everyone on a river cruise to see some of the rural sites of "Golden Bangla." As one senior American guest said, "We assembled as strangers, and departed as friends because of the Bangladesh Defense Services' efforts."

All delegates agreed: the seminar was a rousing success and needs to continue to grow. The civilian and military leaders assembled in Dhaka were of one mind concerning the great utility of the peacekeeping experiences seminar, and the need to keep going in the direction of greater regional integration with better cooperation.