Guillermo Rios is new leader of UNMOGIP

Guillermo Rios is new leader of UNMOGIP

Subject :International Relations

Section: International Organization

Context :U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Rear Admiral Guillermo Pablo Rios of Argentina as the Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), the office of the U.N. Secretary General has announced.

United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP)

• UNMOGIP emerged from N. Security Council Resolution 39 of January 1948 that set up the U.N. Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP).
• The Karachi Agreement of July 1949 firmed up the role of UN-level military observers and permitted supervision of the Cease Fire Line established in Jammu and Kashmir.

India’s stance on UNMOGIP

• India has not officially gone to the UNMOGIP since 1972 with complaints against Pakistan.
• India officially maintains that the UNMOGIP’s role was “overtaken” by the Simla Agreement of 1972 that established the Line of Control or the LoC.
• This with minor deviations followed the earlier Ceasefire Line.
• Pakistan, however, did not accept the Indian argument and continued to seek cooperation from the UNMOGIP.
• As a result of these divergent policies, Pakistan continues to lodge complaints with the UNMOGIP against alleged Indian ceasefire violations.

What is Simla Agreement and why was it signed?

• The Simla Agreement was signed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 2 July 1972, following a full-blown war between India and Pakistan in 1971.
• The Simla Agreement was “much more than a peace treaty seeking to reverse the consequences of the 1971 war (i.e. to bring about withdrawals of troops and an exchange of PoWs).” It was a comprehensive blue print for good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan.
• Under the Simla Agreement both countries undertook to abjure conflict and confrontation which had marred relations in the past, and to work towards the establishment of durable peace, friendship and cooperation.
• The two countries not only agreed to put an end to “conflict and confrontation” but also work for the “promotion of a friendly and harmonious relationship and the establishment of durable peace in the sub-continent, so that both countries may henceforth devote their resources and energies to the pressing talk of advancing the welfare of their peoples.”