21 Indians killed in 2,050 Pak ceasefire breaches: MEA

New Delhi says Pakistan army flouted truce 2050 times, killing 21 Indian since the beginning of 2019

India has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over persistent violation of ceasefire by the soldiers of the neighbouring country along both the disputed and undisputed stretches of the border.

New Delhi underlined that Pakistan Army soldiers had resorted to 2,050 unprovoked violations of ceasefire along the Line of Control as well as the undisputed stretch of the border this year, killing as many as 21 Indian citizens.

Pakistan had on Saturday claimed that the Indian Army had flouted the truce along the border 1970 times since 2017.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a note verbale to the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi, conveying concerns over ceasefire violations by the soldiers of the neighbouring country, often to support attempts by terrorists to sneak into India.

“We have highlighted our concerns at unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan forces, including in support of cross-border terrorist infiltration, and targeting of Indian civilians and border posts by them,” Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the MEA, said.

The soldiers of Pakistan Army violated ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts early on Saturday. They resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling targeting residential areas and schools in Mandher and Balakot sectors of Poonch and Bhimbher Gali and Manjakot sectors of Rajouri.

“We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to ask its forces to adhere to the 2003 ceasefire understanding and maintain peace and tranquility along the LoC and IB (International Border – undisputed stretch),” said Kumar. “Indian forces exercise maximum restraint and respond to unprovoked violations and attempts at cross border terrorist infiltration.”

Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and reorganized the state into two Union Territories, triggering sharp protest from Islamabad, which described the move as an “illegal” and “unilateral” attempt by New Delhi to change the status quo in the disputed territory.

India’s acting High Commissioner to Pakistan, Gaurav Ahluwalia, was also summoned to the foreign office of the neighbouring country in Islamabad on Saturday. He had a meeting with Mohammad Faisal, Director General (South Asia) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Government.

Faisal conveyed to Ahluwalia Islamabad’s condemnation of the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” Indian Army along the LoC. Islamabad alleged that the most recent ceasefire violations by Indian Army early Saturday in Nikial and Jandrot sectors of the LoC resulted in the killing of a 40-year-old Pakistani civilian woman Fatima Bibi.