Daily Times

Pakistan on Friday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in which two innocent civilians received serious injuries.

The ‘indiscriminate and unprovoked’ ceasefire violation by the Indian occupation forces on September 24 in Baroh Sector of the LoC, caused serious injuries to 35-year old Shakeel Ayub s/o Muhammad Ayub and 8-year old Luqman Shakeel s/o Shakeel Ayub, residents of Baroh Village, a statement from the Foreign Office said.

The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 2340 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 18 martyrdoms and serious injuries to 187 innocent civilians.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, the Indian diplomat, summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was informed that “such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.”

“These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to regional peace and security.”

Pakistan informed India that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention of the world from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).

Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.

The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions. On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Pakistan military informed the diplomats visiting the LoC that the ceasefire violations by India have shot up since 2014. “Human rights situation in occupied Kashmir is alarming,” the DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar told the envoys during a visit to the Jora sector along the LoC.

Indian forces were deliberately targeting civilians on the LoC, Maj Gen Iftikhar told the delegation of ambassadors, defence attachés, and the representatives of international organisations stationed in the federal capital from some two dozen countries. He informed them that India was carrying out the CFVs to divert the world’s attention from Kashmir – the Muslim-majority Himalayan region which had its special status under Articles 370 and 35A revoked by New Delhi more than a whopping 400 days ago – as well as what was happening to minorities in the South Asian nation.

The delegation included diplomats, defence attachés, and representatives of various countries and organisations including Azerbaijan, Bosina and Herzegovina, the European Union, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, Palestine, Greece, Australia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Iraq, UK, Italy, Poland, Uzbekistan, Germany, Switzerland, France, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, and the UN-World Food Programme.

Turkish Ambassador Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul after his visit expressed his views and said, “I will repeat what the Turkish President said in the UN General Assembly two days ago. The Jammu and Kashmir issue is a very serious issue which should be resolved through negotiations under UN Security Council resolutions.” He added that the Kashmir issue should be resolved according to the wishes of Kashmiris through Pakistan-India talks.

European Union Ambassador Androla Kaminara also reviewed the situation during her visit on the LoC. She said, “I not only witnessed the whole situation rather listened to the victims.” South African High Commissioner M Madikiza thanked the ISPR for visit on the LoC. He said, “I always wanted to review the situation on the Line of Control and wanted to examine the impact of ceasefire violations on the LoC areas.”

The ambassador noted that he was grateful to meet the victims, had an interaction with them and saw the affected infrastructure, adding, “Hopefully, a solution to Kashmir issue will be found in the near future.” Iranian Deputy Ambassador Ali Mohammad Surkhabi, on the occasion, said there were a lot [of atrocities] happening every day in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. “Inshallah (By the Will of Allah), Kashmir issue will be resolved soon. We are with the Kashmiri people in every way.”