New head of UN group monitoring Kashmir meets Ban Ki-moon
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UNITED NATIONS: (APP) Major General Per Lodin of Sweden, who has been appointed Chief Military Observer and Head of Mission for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the ceasefire in disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, called on Secretary-General ban Ki-moon on Friday, a UN spokesman said.
"This was the first meeting of the new head of the UNMOGIP," Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the regular noon briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
"The Secretary-General wishes him (Gen. Lodin) very well on his important and new assignment," the spokesman said, without elaborating. "There is no readout on the meeting," he added
His predecessor, Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who was with Gen. Lodin, paid his farewell call on the UN chief.
Gen. Sakyi completes his two-year assignment on July 2. The Secretary-general appreciated his contribution to United Nations Peacekeeping.
With a military career in the Swedish Army beginning in 1978, Major General Lodin, a logistic expert, 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 (2012-2014).
General Lodin also served as Director of Strategic Planning and Development (2008), Head of Strategies, Research and Development and Business Development (2007) and Deputy Chief of Staff at the Swedish Armed Forces (2005-2006).
General Lodin is a member of the Swedish Academy of Military Science. He holds a diploma from the Graduate Institute of International studies based in Geneva and attended the United Nations Senior Mission Leaders course in 2015.
UNMOGIP was deployed in January 1949 to supervise the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the State of
Jammu and Kashmir.
The group, based in Rawalpindi, is composed of 44 military observers, supported by 25 international civilian personnel and 47 local civilian staff.
