UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Major General Jose Eladio Alcain of Uruguay as Chief Military Observer and Head of Mission for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the ceasefire in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir, a UN spokesman said Tuesday.
Major General Alcain will succeed Major General Per Gustaf Lodin of Sweden, who will complete his two-year assignment in July 2018. “The Secretary-General is grateful to Major General Lodin for his contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts,” the spokesman said.
Major General Alcain has extensive peacekeeping experience, having served in five peacekeeping operations, including United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) (1994-1995), United Nations Angola Verification Mission III (UNAVEM) (1996-1997), United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) (1999-2000), United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) (2003-2004), and United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) (2006-2007 and 2011-2012).
He graduated from the Uruguayan War College and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Political Science from the Uruguayan National University. He has also attended the UN Senior Mission Leaders course in 2017.
UNMOGIP, one of the oldest UN mission, 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 43 military observers and 23 international civilian personnel.