FO summons Indian envoy to lodge protest over LoC ceasefire violations

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Indian Charge d’affaires to record the heavy protest of Pakistan against ceasefire violations by Indian occupying forces a day earlier along the Line of Control (LoC).

On December 22, 50-year-old Khadeeja adopted shahadat, and 16-year-old Samar, 18-year-old Aneela Kausar and four-year-old Muhammad Seemab suffered serious injuries because of indiscriminate and unprovoked shooting by Indian occupation forces in the Hotspring and Jandrot sectors of the LoC, a statement by the Foreign Office (FO) said.

Indian occupation forces have been constantly attacking civilian inhabited areas along the LoC and Working Boundary (WB) with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons.

“In 2020, Indian occupation forces have carried out 3,012 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 28 shahadats and serious injuries to 253 innocent civilians,” the FO said.

Condemning Indian occupation forces’ deplorable targeting of innocent civilians, it was stressed that such senseless actions are in direct breach of the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003, and are also contradictory to all existing humanitarian values and professional military behaviour, the statement said.

The declaration read, “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,”

It added that “India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in occupied Kashmir.” by raising tensions between the LoC and the WB.

The Indian side was called upon to respect the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003, to investigate this and other cases of intentional ceasefire breaches and to preserve peace along the LoC and the WB, the statement said.

It concluded that the Indian side was also urged to encourage the United Nations Military Observer Group (UNMOGIP) in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role in compliance with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Last week, in what was described by the Foreign Office spokesman as a “reprehensible act, indicative of a new low in the conduct of the Indian Army,” Indian troops intentionally fired on a UN vehicle carrying two military observers on a routine monitoring mission in AJK’s Poonch district.

Days after the incident, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), warned the Indian army that it would always receive an adequate reaction from across the divide to any “misadventure or aggression.”

Gen Bajwa’s word of warning came during his visit to the army positions in unidentified snowbound forward areas along the LoC in Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday (AJK).

According to a statement released by Inter-Services Public Relations, the COAS was briefed on the latest situation, including the ceasefire violations by the Indian army targeting innocent civilians purposely along the LoC, and the recent targeting by Indian troops of a United Nations vehicle against international norms and conventions.

“The Indian provocations, especially the recent targeting of UNMOGIP vehicles, are [a] threat to regional peace and stability,” the army chief observed on the occasion.