UN Reports Few 2023 LoC Violations, Visa Woes in Kashmir Peacekeeping – Pakistan Facilitates 2024 Talks

A senior official of the United Nations has told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations that the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir remains in place, with only two violations reported in 2023, according to diplomatic sources. According to Kashmir Media Service, briefing the 157-member Committee, also known as C-34, Khaled Khairi, the assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific in the Department of Political Affairs, also said that the UN was implementing its mandate for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the LoC, as outlined in Security Council resolutions on the Kashmir dispute. He pointed out that the mission was facing increasing difficulties in obtaining visas, which he said hindered its ability to carry out its mandate fully. ASG Khaled Khiari also brought the issue of border crossing closure to the attention of the Committee, saying that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sialkot-Jammu border crossing has remained closed. Meanwhile, the committee started its negotiation process for its 2024 report. Naeem Sabir Khan, a counselor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, is acting as one of the co-facilitators of the process.