LoC tensions: Pakistan extending maximum support to UN observers

UNMOGIP is allowed complete freedom of movement, is provided all security and administrative assistance, say sources

ISLAMABAD: As India continues to violate the ceasefire along the Line of Control, Pakistan is extending maximum support to United Nations military observers.

According to sources, Pakistan Army is providing the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) complete freedom of movement to investigate all ceasefire violations along the LoC. Any time a major ceasefire violation occurs, concerned officials lodge a written complaint with UNMOGIP so that it can conduct an investigation, they said.

During visits, UN personnel are provided all requisite security and escort by Pakistani authorities, the sources said. UNMOGIP is also provided any administrative assistance it requires by Pakistan whenever it requests, they added.

UNMOGIP, then known as the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), was formed in 1949 to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. It is mandated to observe developments pertaining to the strict adherence of the 1971 ceasefire agreement and report them to the UN secretary general. In particular, it is tasked with looking into any alleged ceasefire violations along the LoC.

Pakistan has repeatedly called on India to allow UNMOGIP to observe the LoC from its side. Last year, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi called for strengthening of UNMOGIP in light of developments in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) that have brought the two neighbours’ ties to their lowest ebb.

“The efficacy of UNMOGIP has become more significant due to multiple ceasefire violations by the Indian armed forces along the Line of Control,” Lodhi said at a UN Security Council debate on peacekeeping operations in September.

India has restricted the activities of the unarmed UN observers on its side of LoC by claiming the grounds for their mandate have lapsed. The UN, however, has maintained that its secretary general’s position has been that UNMOGIP can only be terminated by a decision of the Security Council and hence, should continue to function.

Indian troops most recently violated the ceasefire along LoC on Friday, injuring a teenage girl in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistan military’s media wing, in a statement, said the Indian border security force deliberately targeted the civilian population in the Nezapir and Rakhchikri sectors.

Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Army troops responded to targeting on civilians by Indian forces, killing one Indian soldier and wounding three others, including a major. The government lodged a strong diplomatic protest of repeated truce breaches by India the same day.