WHILE Indian fire has claimed the lives of a number of civilians and men in uniform on this side of the LoC over the past few years, it appears that the Indian military has also not spared UN peacekeepers.

As reported in this paper, members of the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan had a narrow miss when Indians shot at civilians the UN personnel were accompanying near the LoC.

Two locals were injured in the incident.

A local police officer in Azad Kashmir said the officials had arrived in white vehicles displaying blue UN flags.

He added that the UN team had informed the Indians through a “hotline message” of their arrival.

A similar incident involving UN personnel was reported last May.

As a supposedly mature democracy striving to gain a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, it is hard to fathom what India seeks to achieve by targeting the very personnel of this august global body.

The fact is that New Delhi has displayed ambivalence — hostility even — towards UNMOGIP, resorting to the tired mantra that Kashmir is an ‘internal’ matter.

It has made things difficult for members of the UNMOGIP, while the UN’s access to the India-held side of the LoC is extremely limited.

Moreover, senior Indian officials have said on record that the observers’ mission has “outlived its relevance”, whereas former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon had regretted India’s lack of cooperation with UNMOGIP while he was still in office.

Such behaviour begs the question that if all is well in India-held Kashmir, why is New Delhi resorting to such deplorable tactics? India needs to stop targeting innocent people on this side of the LoC, including UN observers.

Instead, New Delhi must realise that the Kashmir issue can only be resolved through dialogue with Pakistan and taking on board the Kashmiris.

In this matter, the good offices of the UN or other interlocutors to encourage such dialogue should not be shunned.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2018