- विज्ञापन -
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Mexican Major General Ramon Guardado Sanchez as the new head of the UN observer mission in Kashmir, as announced by his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric. Guardado replaces Argentine Rear Admiral Guillermo Rios as the head of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
Established in 1949 to oversee the ceasefire between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control, UNMOGIP currently employs around 110 staff members, including 44 military personnel from approximately ten countries. The mission’s headquarters alternates between Srinagar in the summer and Islamabad during the winter.
Before this appointment, Guardado was Commissioner of the National Guard in Yucatan and previously served as the Liaison to Congress for the National Defence Joint Staff. He has significant experience with the UN, having served as a regional chief observer in Colombia, where he monitored a peace agreement involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP). He also commanded the Mexican Peace Operations Joint Training Centre.
Guardado holds a master’s degree in National Security from the Naval Centre for Superior Studies in Mexico, and has completed various military training programs in the US and Argentina.
While India allows the UNMOGIP to operate under the Security Council’s mandate, it considers the observer mission unnecessary, arguing that the Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally as per the Shimla Agreement of 1972. Additionally, in 2014, India relocated the UNMOGIP from a government building to a commercially leased facility.
