India asks UN group to vacate rent-free office

India’s new Hindu nationalist government has asked a U.N. body overseeing military activity in the troubled Kashmir region to vacate a government bungalow in the middle of the capital that is has been using rent-free for 40 years.

India claims Kashmir in its entirety and discourages any intervention or criticism in its dispute with Pakistan over the region. It has fought two wars with Pakistan over Kashmir, part of which is under Islamabad’s control.

A UN official confirmed Friday that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan has been asked to vacate the bungalow.

A foreign ministry spokesman said the move was in line with efforts to rationalize the UN body’s presence in India.

The observer group monitors the border with Pakistan which the Indian government resents.

–         UNB