India, Pak clash over UN mission in Kashmir
United Nations,
Jan 22: India and Pakistan clashed at the Security Council over the relevance
of the UN Military Observer Group on the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir with New
Delhi saying it has been
"overtaken" by 1971 Shimla Accord and Islamabad insisting the force
still had a role. The exchange of words occurred during a UN Security Council
open debate on peacekeeping, organised by Pakistan under its current Presidency
of the 15-nation powerful UN body. The UN Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was set up in 1949 to supervise the ceasefire at the Line of
Control (LoC.)
While
presiding over the debate, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani said
his country has been a proud participant in peacekeeping missions. "Pakistan
is also host to one of the oldest UN peacekeeping missions--UNMOGIP. This
mission has played an important role in monitoring peace along the Line of
Control(LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
The
reference to the UN force was rejected by India's Ambassador to the UN Hardeep
Singh Puri, who suggested it would be better to spend resources allocated for
the observer group elsewhere in difficult economic times. "Suffice it to
point out that UNMOGIP's role has been overtaken by the Simla Agreement of 1972
between India and Pakistan, signed by the Heads of the two governments and
ratified by their respective parliaments. In times of austerity, we need to
address the question whether the resources being spent on UNMOGIP would not be
better utilised elsewhere," he said in his remarks at the debate, which
was initially supposed to be presided over by Pakistan Prime Minister Raja
Pervez Ashraf. Puri stressed that under the Simla agreement, the two countries
had resolved to settle difference "by peaceful means" through
bilateral talks.
At
the end of the debate, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Masood
Khan, speaking in his national capacity, responded to Puri's remarks saying
that no bilateral agreement between the two nations has overtaken or affected
the role or legality of the observer group
Source: http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/india-pak-clash-over-un-mission-in-kashmir-40423.aspx
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