File photo of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Aamir Qureshi—AFP
Prime minister urges U.N. to intervene amid rising incidents of civilian casualties alone Line of Control
Pakistan increasingly fears that India will stage a false flag operation in Jammu and Kashmir to justify its targeting of civilians across the Line of Control dividing the disputed region between the neighboring nations, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Sunday.
In a posting on Twitter, Khan said Indian forces were continuing to “target and kill civilians across the LoC with increasing intensity and frequency. “There is an urgent need for the U.N. Security Council to insist India allow UNMOGIP [U.N. Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan] return to IOJK [India-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir]-side of LoC,” he added.
The UNMOGIP was set up in 1949 after the approval of U.N. Resolution 39, which established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to supervise the ceasefire between the two countries in Jammu and Kashmir. Following the 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan, which established a Line of Control in Kashmir, India unilaterally declared the UNMOGIP mandate expired and restricted the functioning of the group. The United Nations has stated that only a Security Council Resolution could declare the expiration.
The prime minister, in his statement on Twitter, also warned India and the international community that Pakistan could remain “an inactive observer” for only so long in the face of ongoing violence from its neighboring nation. “I want to make clear to India and the international community that if India continues its military attacks killing civilians across LoC, Pakistan will find it increasingly difficult to remain an inactive observer along the LOC,” he added.
Khan’s statement follows the Pakistan Foreign Office on Saturday summoning the Indian Charge d’Affaires to register its protest over ongoing ceasefire violations along the LoC. According to a press release, 36-year-old Shamim Begum was seriously wounded after Indian forces in Kotkotera Sector resorted to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing into Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by Indian occupation forces, Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said such actions were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and showed a complete disregard for international human rights and international norms. He said such violence further vitiated the tense atmosphere along the LoC and posed a threat to regional peace and stability.
Chaudhri suggested New Delhi was trying to divert attention from its human rights abuses in India-held Kashmir by raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary dividing Pakistan and India. He urged the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to investigate all incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along shared border. He also reiterated Islamabad’s stance that New Delhi should permit the UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per UNSC Resolutions.