ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office summoned on Friday Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to protest the killing of a man along the Line of Control during an incident of unprovoked firing by Indian forces a day earlier. In a press release, the Foreign Office stated that a civilian, Zafar Iqbal, was killed while his wife and child were injured when Indian troops fired in Bhimber on Thursday.
India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations, despite calls for restraint, the statement read. In 2018 so far, the Indian forces have carried out more than 415 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the martyrdom of 20 innocent civilians, causing injuries to 71 others, it read. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India has continued from 2017 when Indian forces committed 1,970 ceasefire violations.
“The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws,” the statement read. “The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation.”
The Foreign Office therefore urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
Published in Daily Times, March 3rd 2018.
