ISLAMABAD, May 2: Pakistan has brushed aside the UN secretary-general’s suggestion that the United Nations Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) monitoring violations in Jammu and Kashmir might be wound up in view of improving relations between the two countries. Asked to comment on a recent report attributed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at his weekly press briefing here on Monday, Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said that the UNMOGIP had been mandated by the UN Security Council to monitor violations of the ceasefire line between the two parts of Kashmir. Pakistan believed that the UNMOGIP was performing an extremely useful task in monitoring the LoC and should be allowed to complete its mandate till the Jammu and Kashmir dispute was resolved, he added.

The spokesman confirmed that the defence secretaries of India and Pakistan would be meeting in Islamabad on May 25 and 26 to resume talks on troops’ redeployment from high altitude locations. Survey officials of the two countries would be meeting on May 27 and 28 to resolve the outstanding issues in the Sir Creek area.

Referring to a reported Indian statement that Siachen talks would be held after Pakistan had authenticated the present Indian troops location, Mr Jilani said that Pakistan would adhere in the talks to the recent joint statement issued by leaders of the two countries after their meeting in Delhi last month concerning troops’ withdrawal from Siachen. The Indian statement had once again reiterated its old position on the issue, he said, adding the two defence secretaries had agreed to resolve the Siachen issue in their joint statement of 1989 and they would withdraw troops to newly defined positions.

About Pakistan’s response to the names of experts proposed by the World Bank on the Baglihar hydropower project under construction in the Indian held part of the disputed state, Mr Jilani said that the names were being examined by the officials concerned and a reply would be communicated to the bank within the stipulated two-week time limit.

According to Indian media reports, New Dehli has refused to accept any of the three experts from Australia, Switzerland and Brazil proposed by the World Bank. In case Pakistan did the same, the spokesman said, the bank would propose another panel of three experts requiring Pakistan and India to indicate their preference for one of them. In the event of a second rejection by both, the bank would be entitled to propose its own preference for an expert which would be examined by both parties, indicating their acceptance or otherwise within three weeks, he said

With regard to the Kishanganga project, the spokesman said that an Indian team was due to arrive here on May 7 and in the event of failure of negotiations to arrive at an acceptable settlement, the exercise undertaken in the case of Baglihar dam would have to be repeated before Islamabad could approach the World Bank for a settlement. When asked why had the officials maintained a position different from that of the leaders of the ruling political party about the timeframe for Kashmir settlement (about two years, according to the politicians), the spokesman avoided a direct response and said that the Kashmir policy was based on national consensus and the government was a party to it.

He observed that Pakistan’s position had all along been principled and “we feel that the Jammu and Kashmir issue should be resolved early in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”