New Delhi: India is planning a major move of closing United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) in Srinagar, Indian Administered Kashmir.
Necessary planning has been carried out in Prime Minister Office (PMO) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been instructed to do the needful in this regard.
The development is concerning as same may be regarded as major step by India to demonstrate unilateral hegemony over Indian Administered Kashmir after it revoked Article 370 & 35 A.
India maintains that UNMOGIP’s role is “overtaken” by Simla Agreement of 1972 that established Line of Control (LOC); in which both countries agreed to resolve disputes bilaterally, without the intervention of third party.
UNSC resolutions recognize Indian Administered Kashmir as a disputed territory until the will of the people of Indian Administered Kashmir is determined through a plebiscite under the United Nations auspices. In 2014, India requested UNMOGIP to cease operations in Indian Administered Kashmir; MEA reiterated in 2017 that UNMOGIP has no mandate to monitor situation in Indian Administered Kashmir.
The military authorities of Pakistan have continued to lodge complaints with UNMOGIP about ceasefire violations in Indian Administered Kashmir.
India military authorities have lodged no complaints since January 1972 and have restricted the activities of the UN observers on the Indian side of the Line of Control. Closing down the UN observer’s office is a glare move to deny status of Indian Administered Kashmir as declared in UNSC resolutions. In the past, UNMOGIP has handed over more than 50 memoranda to UN office in Srinagar, seeking its intervention.
Any Indian tactic to close UN offices will bring nothing but disaster and distress to the whole region and jeopardize peace and prosperity of the sub-continent which is already volatile. Presence of UNMOGIP itself backs Pakistan’s stance of Indian Administered Kashmir being a disputed territory and UN’s recognitions of same.
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
