Pak Summons Indian Envoy, Says Ceasefire Violations ‘Deplorable’

Pakistan said “the Indian forces along LoC & Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian-populated areas.”

Image used for representational purposes. 

(Photo: Reuters)

Pakistan on Thursday, 2 August, summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and condemned the alleged ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in which one civilian has been killed.

Director General (South Asia and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Mohammad Faisal summoned Singh over the ceasefire violations in the Mandal Sector, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

A 35-year-old woman of Ghasla village was killed in the firing.

The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian-populated areas with heavy weapons.

Mohammad Faisal

In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out over 1,400 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the killing of 30 civilians, while injuring 121 others, Faisal said.

"This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1,970 ceasefire violations," he said.

He said 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, he said.

The director general urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit, and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.

Faisal further urged that the Indian side should permit the UN Monitoring Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

India, however, does not recognise the UNMOGIP and has maintained that the group has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the LoC. India has always stated that it has "no role to play whatsoever".

(This story has been published in an arrangement with PTI.)