Pakistan, India DGMOs to meet tomorrow, Pakistan to seek bigger role for UN military observers

Eurasia News

ISLAMABAD: The Directors General Military Operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India will meet on Tuesday (tomorrow) to discuss ways to strengthen the ceasefire on the Line of Control (LoC).

In a statement, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said that the two commanders will also discuss firing incidents on the working boundary.

The DGMOs of both the countries will meet on the Pakistani side of the Wagah border. Major General Aamer Riaz will represent Pakistan while India will be represented by Lt General Vinod Bhatia.

Meanwhile, a senior military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Pakistan is expected to seek a bigger role for the UN military observers deployed along the LoC when the DGMOs of India and Pakistan meet for the first time in 14 years on Tuesday, according to Indian media reports.

“Pakistan is going into the talks with a positive frame of mind as it does not want further escalation in tensions,” the official was quoted as saying by the Indian media.

The official said that Pakistan would push for a greater role of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), in addition to proposing the reinforcement of the 2003 ceasefire agreement to avoid further hostilities between the two nuclear neighbours.

“Pakistan will urge India to allow UNMOGIP to work freely so that it can effectively ensure ceasefire on both sides of the LoC,” the official said.

“We have given UN military observers unhindered access on our side of the LoC, but they do not enjoy the same freedom on the Indian side…Their movement has been highly restricted by India,” he added.

The UNMOGIP was established in 1949 under the resolution passed by the UN Security Council to supervise ceasefire along the LoC.