The Foreign Secretary on Friday expressed concern over the deliberate targeting of villages and populated areas by Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary in a briefing given to the heads of missions of the permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). During the briefing to the head of missions, the Foreign Secretary also expressed concern over the increase in frequency and intensity of Indian shelling and firing which has led to the death of at least 26 civilians. The FO statement also added that the heads of missions were made aware of the use of heavy artillery, employed by Indian forces on November 9 in the sectors of Shahkot and Jura along the LoC. Referring to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), the Foreign Secretary reiterated that Pakistan if fully cooperating and providing unrestricted access to the observer mission, however, India has limited the group’s access and is not cooperating. The heads of mission assured Pakistan that they would convey the concerns to their respective capitals and underscored the need for restraint, observance of ceasefire and dialogue to resolve issues.
India blamed Pakistan for the Uri attack in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed while Pakistan denied any involvement in the attack. It has become a sort of ritual in India to blame Pakistan after every infamous incident prior to any investigation. After Uri attack, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh termed Pakistan a ‘terrorist state’ and accused Pakistan of involvement. After this incident Indian Prime Minister escalated the drive to isolate Pakistan diplomatically at international level. Following the attack, India claimed it conducted a cross-border ‘surgical strike’ against ‘launch pads of terror’ in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, but not only Pakistan but also international media also rejected strongly this claim of India.
India is also extremely unhappy over the move of Pakistan to successfully highlight Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir at the international forums. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September also highlighted Indian atrocities in held Kashmir and rightly pointed out peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute will lead the region to peace and prosperity. But India was furious over the address of Pakistani Prime Minister who talked about the Indian human rights violations in held Kashmir. Unrest persists in Kashmir from last four months after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by Indian forces, until today scores of people have been killed and injured in the valley.
Pakistan sees continued violations of ceasefire from India as an attempt to divert the world’s attention away from atrocities committed by government forces in Indian held Kashmir. It is a decent move of Pakistan to brief heads of foreign missions in Pakistan about the continued Indian ceasefire violations which are causing civilian deaths and posing threats to further increase tension between two countries and taking the region towards more unrest and chaos.
Constant ceasefire violations by Indian troops are a serious threat to regional peace.
