Pakistan summons Indian envoy over ‘ceasefire violations’

Islamabad, January 20

Pakistan on Saturday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh for the fourth time this week and condemned the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” across the LoC by Indian forces.

The Foreign Office (FO) said Indian troops violated the ceasefire in Khuiratta, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors on the Line of Control (LoC) on January 20.

The firing killed a 60-year-old civilian and injured two others, including a child, it said.

Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned Singh and “condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary on January 20”.

He said the number of casualties at the Working Boundary had risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, where four more innocent civilians were killed while 20 injured on January 18 and 19.

“The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy mortars and automatic weapons,” Faisal said.

He alleged that the Indian forces had carried out more than 150 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary in just 20 days this year, killing nine innocent civilians and injuring 40 others.

This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations, Faisal said.

“The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws,” the official said.

Faisal said the “ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation”.

The Director General urged India 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.

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

The FO had summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner Singh on January 15, 18 and 19 also. PTI