UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2: Pakistan said on Tuesday that the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip) could "play a vital role in promoting confidence building" and the peace process in South Asia.

"As in the case of other (peacekeeping) missions, Unmogip can also assist in the promotion of the peace process as well as the protection of human rights in Kashmir," Pakistan's deputy chief of mission Masood Khalid said while addressing the special committee on peacekeeping operations at the UN.

Referring to the controversy surrounding the peacekeeping mission in Congo where some personnel were found guilty of sexual exploitation, Mr Khalid said: "Pakistan for its part takes this matter very seriously. Those who are found guilty of committing such crimes must face the full force of law.

"We have an impeccable record in peacekeeping and we wish to maintain the highest standards of discipline. Any proven cases will be dealt with, as in the past, with the utmost severity," he declared.

"However," Mr Khalid said, "this is a problem which is not limited to MONUC (Congo mission). It has existed in the past and involved peacekeepers and civilian personnel from many countries. It is also a problem which occurs in many standing armies.

"It needs to be viewed in this perspective and within in a broader, systemic context. We hope that the special committee will recommend a more comprehensive and balanced approach to address the problem."

He noted that Pakistani troops had served 30 peacekeeping missions, including some of the most difficult and dangerous ones, and their role as peacekeepers had often been pivotal.

"In Cambodia, robust action by our peacekeepers deterred spoilers and thus helped prevent the collapse of a delicate peace process. In Somalia, Pakistani peacekeepers delivered humanitarian assistance to a starving and terrorized population at the expense of their own lives.

In Bosnia, our troops protected an ethnically-mixed civilian population against the onslaught of genocidal forces. And in Sierra Leone, Pakistani peacekeepers have succeeded where those before them - from our own immediate neighbourhood - had failed," he pointed out.