Pakistan lodged a strong protest with India on Monday by summoning its top diplomat over the continued ceasefire violations and targeting of civilian population.
Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned by Director General South Asia and SAARC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohammad Faisal, said the ministry in a statement.
It stated that Dr Faisal condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on August 18, 2019.
On August 18, 2019 in Hot Spring and Chirikot Sectors of the LoC, two elderly innocent civilians, 75-year-old Lal Muhammad and 61-year-old Hassan Din, residents of village Nagrai, were martyred, while a seven-year-old minor boy, Saddam, was seriously injured.
"The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and Working Boundary have continuously been targeting the civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons, which still continues," the Foreign Office said, adding that the unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India has been continuing since the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1,970 ceasefire violations.
It stated that the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, it added.
The director general South Asia and SAARC urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate these and other incidents of ceasefire violations; and instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.