New Delhi
14 October 2005
If the tremors in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir has brought the
armies of India and Pakistan together on humanitarian grounds and Indian soldiers
carried axe pickle and shovel across the Line of Control in response to shouts from
Pakistani troops seeking digging tools, the winds of change have not left the United
Nations Military Group in India and Pakistan entirely untouched either.
For the first time since its inception, the UNMOGIP has relaxed its mandate and gone
beyond its call of duty to contribute its bit to the relief operations in the earthquake-
affected areas on either side of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. A United
Nations official told this newspaper that "times are a bit hectic" for the UNMOGIP after
the tremors rocked the region a week ago.
The UNMOGIP was deployed in January 1949 to supervise, in Jammu and Kashmir, the
ceasefire between India and Pakistan. It is headquartered in Rawalpindi between
November and April and in Srinagar from May through October. It has 42 military
observers, 24 international civilian personnel and 47 local civilian staff. Nine countries
have contributed military personnel to the UNMOGIP.
"[The] UNMOGIP has been involved [to] some extent [with] the aid and relief effort on
both sides of the Line of Control," the official said, "especially with providing local
knowledge to the specialised United Nations agencies for their assessment teams to
both Muzaffarabad and Srinagar." The agencies include UNICEF and UNDP, which have
dispatched men amd material to the region.
The UNMOGIP's mandate is to observe and report, investigate complaints of ceasefire
violations and submit its finding to the UN Secretary-General but, according to the
official, this is perhaps the first time that the UNMOGIP is giving logistical help for a
humanitarian cause by using its "knowledge of the terrain in Jammu and Kashmir" to
civilian agencies involved in relief work.
"There is no previous record" of undertaking such an enterprise, the official observed.
Earlier this year, the UNMOGIP welcomed the peace overtures by India and Pakistan but
said its mandate would remain unchanged despite talk of a soft border and newfound
bonhomie between the two nuclear neighbours. "We will abide by our mandate, which we
will continue to execute to our fullest abilities," it had said then.
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