Swedish General to head UN mission to monitor India, Pakistan ceasefire

Maj Gen Lodin succeeds Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who completes his two-year assignment on July 2

A high-ranking Swedish military official will be the new head of the United Nations mission tasked with monitoring the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.

Major General Per Gustaf Lodin, 59, also a logistics expert, was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the Chief Military Observer and Head of Mission for the United Nations Military Observer Group (UNMOGIP) in India and Pakistan, the UN said.

Maj Gen Lodin succeeds Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who completes his two-year assignment as Chief Military Observer and Head of Mission for the UNMOGIP on July 2.

Pakistani rangers and Indian Border Security Force officers during a parade at the check post at the Wagah border

India has maintained that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the Line of Control (LoC).

With a military career in the Swedish Army beginning in 1978, Major General Lodin most recently held the position of Director of Procurement and Logistics for the Swedish Armed Forces.

Previous to this, he was the Deputy Director of the National Armaments for Sweden and Deputy Chief of Staff at the Swedish Armed Forces.

According to the Security Council mandate given in Resolution 307 of 1971, UNMOGIP observes and reports on ceasefire violations along and across the Line of Control and the working boundary between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as reports developments that could lead to ceasefire violations.

As of March 31 this year, UNMOGIP has 44 military observers, 25 international civilian personnel and 47 local civilian staff.

The observer group is financed by the United Nations regular budget and appropriations for biennium 2014 — 2015 are $19.64 million .