Areesh
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New Delhi, April 4: The UN has articulated concerns over recent attacks on Africans in India and said one of its teams was probing alleged ceasefire violations by the Indian Army, a double snub from the organisation where New Delhi wants a chair at the high table.
India has long rejected any role for the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) - the team the UN referred to on Monday night - in the resolution of its disputes with Pakistan, insisting that it would accept only bilateral settlements.
On Monday, India had also rebuffed demands from African ambassadors in New Delhi for condemnation from the Prime Minister of the recent assaults on Nigerian students, arguing that New Delhi was doing all that was needed to tackle the "criminal act".
The African ambassadors had threatened to seek a UN Human Rights Council probe into the assaults, while India had said it was "unfortunate" that the envoys had described the attacks as "xenophobic and racial".
But late on Monday in New York - early morning in India - the office of UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres made it clear it was troubled by the attacks in Greater Noida, the latest in a spate of assaults in recent years on people of African origin in India.
"We do very much hope that these people who are responsible for these... these attacks are brought to justice," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said, while clarifying that the UN had not launched any probe into the attacks.
Pakistan had yesterday summoned India's deputy high commissioner in Islamabad, J.P. Singh, to protest alleged ceasefire violations by India on April 1, across the Line of Control. Indian Army officials had in turn accused Pakistan of unprovoked firing across the LoC.
On Monday night, Dujarric said the UNMOGIP was probing those allegations in Pakistan-held Kashmir. India does not allow the UNMOGIP access to the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its control.
"We've seen the alleged violations over the LoC, which are currently being investigated by the UNMOGIP, in the Pakistan-administered side of the LoC at Domel, Kotli and Bhimber, where the security situation has indeed been tense," Dujarric said. "We continue to underline the need for the parties to find a peaceful solution through engagement and dialogue."
The UN Security Council had in 1971 set up the UNMOGIP to observe and report on ceasefire violations along and across the LoC and the international border between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
India says the UNMOGIP is today irrelevant after New Delhi and Islamabad signed the Simla Agreement following the 1971 war. The Simla Agreement and the Lahore declaration of 1999 bind India and Pakistan to bilateral negotiations on disputes, according to New Delhi.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170405/jsp/nation/story_144647.jsp#.WOTCmJ7YW1t
India has long rejected any role for the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) - the team the UN referred to on Monday night - in the resolution of its disputes with Pakistan, insisting that it would accept only bilateral settlements.
On Monday, India had also rebuffed demands from African ambassadors in New Delhi for condemnation from the Prime Minister of the recent assaults on Nigerian students, arguing that New Delhi was doing all that was needed to tackle the "criminal act".
The African ambassadors had threatened to seek a UN Human Rights Council probe into the assaults, while India had said it was "unfortunate" that the envoys had described the attacks as "xenophobic and racial".
But late on Monday in New York - early morning in India - the office of UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres made it clear it was troubled by the attacks in Greater Noida, the latest in a spate of assaults in recent years on people of African origin in India.
"We do very much hope that these people who are responsible for these... these attacks are brought to justice," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said, while clarifying that the UN had not launched any probe into the attacks.
Pakistan had yesterday summoned India's deputy high commissioner in Islamabad, J.P. Singh, to protest alleged ceasefire violations by India on April 1, across the Line of Control. Indian Army officials had in turn accused Pakistan of unprovoked firing across the LoC.
On Monday night, Dujarric said the UNMOGIP was probing those allegations in Pakistan-held Kashmir. India does not allow the UNMOGIP access to the parts of Jammu and Kashmir under its control.
"We've seen the alleged violations over the LoC, which are currently being investigated by the UNMOGIP, in the Pakistan-administered side of the LoC at Domel, Kotli and Bhimber, where the security situation has indeed been tense," Dujarric said. "We continue to underline the need for the parties to find a peaceful solution through engagement and dialogue."
The UN Security Council had in 1971 set up the UNMOGIP to observe and report on ceasefire violations along and across the LoC and the international border between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
India says the UNMOGIP is today irrelevant after New Delhi and Islamabad signed the Simla Agreement following the 1971 war. The Simla Agreement and the Lahore declaration of 1999 bind India and Pakistan to bilateral negotiations on disputes, according to New Delhi.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170405/jsp/nation/story_144647.jsp#.WOTCmJ7YW1t
