India must step up vigil along border

At a time when they should be working together to fight common foes like the coronavirus, it is unfortunate that India and Pakistan are training their guns at each other along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir. For four consecutive days last week, Pakistan violated the ceasefire repeatedly by firing at Indian posts and engaging in intense mortar shelling along several sectors along the LoC. On Saturday, India retaliated by targeting terrorist launch pads and ammunition depots on the Pakistan side of the LoC. Violating the ceasefire is untenable always. The agreement, which came into effect in November 2003, did bring a semblance of stability and peace along the LoC. However, its frequent violation in recent years has made the ceasefire increasingly precarious. Every exchange of fire between India and Pakistan erodes this agreement and is thus unacceptable.

That the latest exchange of cross-LoC firing and shelling has taken place at a time when a pandemic is raging makes it all the more reprehensible. Both India and Pakistan are battling high coronavirus infections. They should be diverting all resources and energies to fighting the pandemic. Not only is the cross-LoC firing weakening an already fragile ceasefire but also scores of people have been injured, some of them critically. Transporting them for treatment in hospitals will not be easy as India is under a lockdown. At a time when the government is trying to enforce social distance, people are crowding into underground shelters to escape shelling from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Pakistan violated the ceasefire agreement over 3,200 times last year, the highest in a single year since 2003. In February last year, India carried out a massive strike on a Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in response to a major terror attack on Indian security forces at Pulwama. India’s counter-strike was aimed at pressuring Pakistan to halt support to anti-India terrorism. The large number of ceasefire violations last year indicates that India’s muscular tactic failed to quell Pakistani aggression. It is important therefore that India explores the diplomatic option with Pakistan again.

Pakistan is known to infiltrate terrorists into India under cover of escalated firing and shelling across the LoC. It resorts to this strategy especially in spring, when crossing icy passes in the Himalayas becomes easier. It can be expected to intensify cross-LoC firing and infiltration in the coming weeks. Anti-India sentiment in the Valley has reached unprecedented levels over the past year and Pakistan will be keen to fish in troubled waters by stepping up infiltration into India. India’s best response to such provocation is to step up vigil along its border.