Pakistan lodges protest with India over ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office of Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC).

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office today (Friday), the Indian diplomat was summoned on ceasefire violations along LoC in Nezapir and Rakhchikri Sectors, on Sunday night, resulting in serious injuries to an innocent civilian.

Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces, Muhammad Shafi, 37, resident of Jijot village, sustained serious injuries.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored 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.

The Foreign Office said in a statement, “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.”

Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) had continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. In current year, India has so far committed 1081 ceasefire violations, the statement mentioned.

Indian occupation forces display complete disregard for human rights by repeated shelling and firing resulting in a large number of civilians’ shahadats and injuries.

It was stressed that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).

The 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 Working Boundary.