UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21: Pakistan has underscored the need for strengthening the United Nations Observer Mission in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) so that it plays a \u201cmore effective\u201d role in preserving peace and security along the Line of Control (Loc) in the disputed Kashmir region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe UNMOGIP has been and continues to play an important role in the maintenance of peace and security along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions,\u201d Pakistani delegate Ansar Shah told the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations, also known as C-34, which held its first meeting in the new year on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The committee institutionalizes the General Assembly\u2019s oversight on policy and execution of UN Peacekeeping Operations.<\/p>\n
UNMOGIP was deployed in January 1949 to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have always fulfilled our commitments in the implementation of UNMOGIP\u2019s mandate,\u201d Shah, who is first secretary at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, said.<\/p>\n
While Pakistan allows UN observers to monitor the LoC, India does not.<\/p>\n
The Rawalpindi-based group, which Pakistan hosts, is composed of 44 military observers, supported 75 civilian staff (25 International Staff plus 49 National Staff).<\/p>\n
But even Pakistani delegate\u2019s innocuous UNMOGIP-related remarks drew a protest from an Indian military official.<\/p>\n
Colonel Tarunendra Pratap Singh, military advisor to the Indian Mission to the UN, called Pakistani delegate\u2019s remarks \u201cunwarranted\u201d, saying they reflected Pakistan\u2019s \u201ccompulsive obsession\u201d with India.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe yet again emphasize that the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, and will be an integral part of India, \u201d Col. Singh claimed.<\/p>\n
Ansar Shah sharply reacted to the Indian official\u2019s remarks, declaring that \u201cJammu and Kashmir is not, never has been, and will never be an \u201cintegral\u201d part of India.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a disputed territory, whose \u2018final disposition\u2019 is to be decided by the people of Jammu and Kashmir through a UN supervised plebiscite, as demanded by numerous resolutions of the Security Council,\u201d the Pakistani delegate asserted, while exercising his right of reply.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo amount of fabrication and obfuscation can change the legal, political and historical reality.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in his speech to the Committee, the Pakistani delegate said that peacekeeping was most effective as part of the overall \u2018political strategy\u2019 to resolve conflicts and build peace, adding that this strategy should embrace the entire peace continuum \u2014 from conflict prevention to conflict resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe safety and security of peacekeepers must be paramount,\u201d he said, while calling he recent attacks on MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and death of three UN peacekeepers, \u201cunacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere should be greater accountability. Attacks on peacekeepers amount to war crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, Shah stressed that peacekeepers receive appropriate training and should be well equipped with adequate resources.<\/p>\n
The UN, he said, must promote and adapt peacekeeping specific technologies which respond to the current peacekeeping requirements, such as day and night vision surveillance equipment, advanced IED (improvised explosive device) detection systems, explosive ordnance disposal, mine resistant and high mobility light tactical vehicles, telemedicine capabilities and state of the art medical evacuation facility.<\/p>\n
Shah also called for equitable geographic representation particularly of Troop Contributing Countries and Police Contributing Countries in leadership positions.<\/p>\n
Pakistan, he added, was committed to forging peacekeeping partnerships, especially with the African Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).<\/p>\n
In conclusion, the Pakistani delegate said, he looked forward to engaging in this year\u2019s session constructively for producing clear, realistic and achievable recommendations for improving the UN peacekeeping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 21: Pakistan has underscored the need for strengthening the United Nations Observer Mission in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) so that it plays a \u201cmore effective\u201d role in preserving peace and security along the Line of Control (Loc) in the disputed Kashmir region. […]<\/p>\n
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