Last week, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia and condemned the ceasefire breach by the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC) on 22 and 23 July 2019.
SA and SAARC Director General Dr. Mohammad Faisal has summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner Mr. Gaurav Ahluwalia for the second time in a week and blasted the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC).
The Director-General called on New Delhi to abide by the 2003 Ceasefire arrangementand launch a probe into the latest and previous ceasefire violations.
“The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India has continued since 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations.” Faisal stated. “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.”
Faisal also urged the Indian side to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group Into India to play its mandated role as per UN Security Council resolutions to regulate the conflict with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, an Indian army official stated that Islamabad was responsible for initiating the ceasefire violation.
“At about 12:45 hours local time, Pakistan initiated an unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing small arms and shelling with mortars along a portion of the LOC in Shahpur sector in Poonch district, Jammu and Kashmir”, the official said.
Tensions between the two South Asian nations took a turn for the worse after the Pakistani military downed two Indian warplanes in the disputed Kashmir region, reportedly reacting to an earlier airstrike by Indian aircraft against what New Delhi claimed was a Jaish-e-Mohammad camp, and considered terrorists by India. India has blamed Pakistan for supporting the terrorists and having a “direct hand” in a deadly attack on the Indian paramilitary police force in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, has rebuffed the accusations.