–FO summons Indian deputy envoy to register protest against latest ceasefire violation
RAWALPINDI: A young man embraced martyrdom while a woman was injured when Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing across the Line of Control (LoC) on Monday after which the Foreign Office (FO) summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to lodge a protest over the latest ceasefire violation.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing in Bagsar Sector along LoC. A 26-year-old Azeem was martyred in the firing while a woman sustained bullet wounds. Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to those posts targeting civil population.
Later, the Foreign Office (FO) summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh to protest the latest “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by Indian border forces along the LoC in the Bagsar Sector which resulted in the death of a civilian. FO Director General Dr Muhammad Faisal, who also serves as the foreign ministry spokesperson, in a statement, said, “The Indian forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian-populated areas with heavy weapons.” This “unprecedented escalation” in ceasefire violations by India has been ongoing since 2017, a year during which they committed 1,970 such violations, the statement added. It termed the “deliberate targeting” of an area populated by civilians as “deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws”.
The statement added that India’s ceasefire violations were a threat to both regional peace and security, and “may lead to a strategic miscalculation”. Dr Faisal urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Agreement. He asked them to investigate this as well as other incidents of ceasefire violations and to instruct Indian forces to respect the ceasefire “in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary”.
The FO spokesperson also urged India to allow the United Nations Military Observers Mission for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.
