Mexican general named to head UN observer force in India, Pakistan

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Major General Ramon Guardado Sanchez of Mexico as Head of Mission and Chief Military Observer for the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), which monitors the cease-fire in disputed Jammu and Kashmir, the UN announced Wednesday.

Major General Guardado succeeds Rear Admiral Guillermo Rios of Argentina, to whom the Secretary-General is “grateful for his contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts”, the announcement said.

The general has had a long and distinguished career in the Mexican Army, currently serving as Commissioner of the National Guard in Yucatan.

Prior to this, he served as Liaison to Congress for the National Defence Joint Staff (2022-2023), Chief of the Regional Training Centre (2021-2022) and as Chief of the G-7 Section (Counter-narcotics Operations) of the National Defence Joint Staff (2018-2019).

He was also the Commanding Officer of the Mexican Peace Operations Joint Training Centre (2017-2018) and served in the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (2016-2017) as Regional Chief Observer.

Major General Guardado holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Military Administration from the Superior War School and a Master’s Degree in National Security from the Naval Centre for Superior Studies, both in Mexico. He also graduated from the Armor Officer Advanced Course at the U.S. Army Armor Centre and the Joint and Combined War-fighting School at the Joint Forces Staff College in the U.S.A and trained at the Argentine Joint Training Centre for Peace Operations (CAECOPAZ). He speaks English and Spanish.

UNMOGIP, one of the oldest UN mission, was deployed in January 1949 to supervise the cease-fire between India and Pakistan in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The group, based in Rawalpindi, is composed of 44 military observers and 75 international civilian personnel.