Ceasefire violations along LoC, WB: Senior Indian diplomat summoned

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat Thursday to register a strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on 30th September 2020, resulting in serious injuries to one innocent civilian.

Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Jandrot Sector of the LoC, the Foreign Office said that 65-year-old Kalsum Begum wife of Mandi Khan, resident of Kathar village, sustained serious injuries.

It stated that the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) had been continuously targeting civilian-populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons.

This year, India has committed 2,404 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 19 shahadats and serious injuries to 192 innocent civilians, it added. Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, the Foreign Office added that it was underscored that such senseless acts were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and were also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

"These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to regional peace and security. It was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK)," it added.

It stated that the Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.

The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, it added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020