India a messenger of world peace, 3rd highest contributor to UN missions: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India has always vouched for world peace, unity and harmony and its armed forces have contributed in this direction through United Nations missions across the globe.

He said that currently around 7,000 Indian security personnel are deployed on peacekeeping missions, making it the third highest contributor.

Besides, Indian forces have provided peacekeeping training to their counterparts from 85 countries and have been providing medical services to people from a number of countries, Modi said in his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat'.

"India, as a messenger of peace, has always vouched for peace, unity and harmony in the world. It is our belief that everyone should live in peace and harmony and move towards a better and peaceful tomorrow," the prime minister said.

He said India has participated in about 50 out of 71 UN peacekeeping operations undertaken so far.

In his radio broadcast, he also talked about India's culture of respecting nature, highlighted the increase in Khadi sales, referred to cleanliness campaign and mentioned the role played by Sardar Vallabhai Patel in laying the foundation of the country's unity.

Modi also expressed concern over the fact that even children are nowadays getting afflicted by diabetes and exhorted the young ones to play more outdoors to evade such ailments.

He also referred to the just-concluded FIFA U-17 tournament in India and expressed happiness over the host team's performance, saying it had won hearts, if not medals.