Two Indian peacekeepers from UN mission in South Sudan are part of a team that has embarked on an expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to convey a message of peace and stability for Africa.

Colonel Dipinder Virk is leading the team comprising Major Vikash Kumar and Major Liviu Chende from Romania and hopes to reach the continent’s highest peak at a height of 19,340 feet on Christmas day.

According the mission’s radio, the three men plan to hoist the UN flag on the summit, taking the message of peace to the highest peak in the continent.

The trio, which could become the first all-male peacekeepers team to climb Kilimanjaro, says carrying the message of peace is the ultimate goal.

“We think of no borders, we are here for peace and as a continent, if peace is to come to South Sudan, it must come from the entire efforts of the people on the African continent,” Virk, told Radio Miraya.

They added that their climb is symbolic of the efforts of the United Nations to bring peace and stability more generally in Africa, but more specifically to South Sudan.