Uruguay Army official appointed as head of UNMOGIP

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a veteran Uruguay Army general as the chief military observer of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which New Delhi says has outlived its utility and relevance after the Shimla Agreement.

Major General Jose Eladio Alcain will succeed the incumbent UNMOGIP chief Major General Per Gustaf Lodin of Sweden, who will complete his two-year assignment this month, an official statement said.

Alcain had a distinguished career with the Uruguayan Army since 1977. Most recently, he held the position of Director of the National Health Service of the Armed Forces.

The Secretary-General expressed his gratitude to Lodin for his contribution to UN’s peacekeeping efforts.

The UNMOGIP  was established in January 1949 with first team arriving in Jammu and Kashmir to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and to assist the Military Adviser to the UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP), established in 1948 by the UN Security Council.