October 31, 2001	Wednesday	Shaba'an 13, 1422

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NEW DELHI, Oct 30: India tied itself in knots on Tuesday by threatening to initiate action against the head of a 50-year-old UN peace observers’ group in Kashmir who spoke out unusually bluntly the other day about the tense situation in the Himalayan region, which he described as a “tormented country.”

Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao, responding to remarks on Monday by the head of the United Nations Military Observers’ Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), said: “The statement was totally unwarranted and uncalled for.”

The UNMOGIP head Major-General Hermann Loidolt had accused India and Pakistan of playing games with Kashmir in remarks that coincided with the group’s 50th annual departure for Pakistan for a six-month stint in Rawalpindi.

Though expected to spend the other six months in Srinagar, the UNMOGIP has kept a low profile there after militants and protestors started targeting its offices at the drop of a hat.

Asked if New Delhi contemplated any action against Austria’s General Loidolt, Rao said: “We will take it up appropriately.”

Analysts said Gen Loidolt’s remarks may have been well thought-out with the support of important international players who might want to bring up the issue before the international body for discussion.

Therefore, if India does indeed take up the issue with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as some journalists suggested it would or it should, the issue of Kashmir would almost certainly bounce back on the international agenda for a discussion, even if the excuse were a mere diplomatic impropriety.

“This is a Catch 22 for India,” said a diplomat based in Delhi. “If they go ahead with a demarche or a protest to the UN executive offices, the issue will be snapped up for a look right away. And that’s not what anyone in Delhi is interested in.”

Gen Loidolt accused the two South Asian rivals of heightening regional tensions over Kashmir and said it was obvious there were “games both parties are playing with this tormented country”.

“Whatever the reason is for playing political games, may it be a diversionary manoeuvre on the Pakistani side to make India the real enemy instead of the US, or may it be the dawning of the next election in India, it will be an issue for the US to solve,” he said.

Gen Loidolt’s statement was a rare occasion when the UNMOGIP has taken a political stand on the Kashmir dispute.

“India has never been one to play games or indulge in diversionary tactics,” Rao said.

She also ruled out third-party mediation and said the dispute over Kashmir, which has led India and Pakistan to fight two wars, had to be settled bilaterally in line with a peace accord the pair signed in 1972.

“We absolutely reject that statement,” Rao said on the general’s comments that the United States would have to step in to defuse local tensions.

“We see no need for obiter dicta (mediation) in Kashmir from third parties as we have said in the past. The issue of Kashmir can only be discussed by India and Pakistan, according to the Shimla Accord,” the spokesperson said.

The UNMOGIP has been monitoring the Line of Control in Kashmir since 1948. The small force has divided its time between Srinagar and Rawalpindi since 1951.

While the number of clashes on the LoC has remained roughly normal in the past months, Gen Loidolt on Monday predicted that “the situation will become more tense in the time coming, not only along the LoC but also in the whole of Jammu and Kashmir state”.