In an apparent bid to internationalise the Kashmir problem, Pakistan has called for expanding the role of United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kashmir, which India does not recognize, to help resolve the issue.
Addressing the Security Council yesterday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri said the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) should "definitely" play an effective role and could help in the resolution of the issue.
Either side could engage the group if it feels that "the other has done something which should not be doing or not done something which it should be doing," he said. Pakistan has already complained to UNMOGIP about the fencing by India along the Jammu and Kashmir border.
UNMOGIP was established in 1949 to supervise the ceasefire in Kashmir. After the 1971 war between India and Pakistan, the two countries demarcated what is called Line of Control, and India believes the UNMOGIP's mandate has expired since it was linked to the ceasefire line.