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The United Nations on Tuesday confirmed that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has received the Indian government's request to vacate the premises it is using in New Delhi.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said "the Mission is currently conducting a market survey to assess costs and identify possible alternative locations."
"UNMOGIP is in contact with the Indian authorities and will continue its cooperation on this matter," Dujarric said.
The UN spokesman did not give any information on why India made the request, but the spokesperson for the Indian External Affairs Ministry, Syed Akbaruddin, was quoted by news reports as saying in New Delhi that it has been India's "consistent and long-standing view that UNMOGIP has outlived its mandate."
UNMOGIP, created by the UN Security Council in January 1948, was given the government bungalow in New Delhi free of charge 40 years ago.
"We have asked the UNMOGIP to vacate the government bungalow on Purana Qila Road which they have been occupying free of charge," Akbaruddin said."This is in line with our effort to rationalize the UNMOGIP presence in India."
"As part of this exercise, we have also monetized some of the facilities that UNMOGIP had been availing free of cost till now," he said.
Indian officials said the UN mission was free to take any private property on rent.
UNMOGIP observers have been located at the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir since 1949 and supervising the truce between the two neighboring countries.
As of May 31, UNMOGIP has 40 military observers, 23 international civilian personnel and 45 local civilian staff.
The observer group is financed by the United Nations regular budget and appropriations for biennium 2014-2015 are 19.647 million U.S. dollars.
