Senior Indian diplomat summoned over LoC ceasefire violation

MoFa says egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate situation

ISLAMABAD:

A senior Indian diplomat was summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violation by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on October 14, 2020, resulting in serious injuries to two innocent civilians.

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Jandrot sector of the LoC two residents of Barmoch village - 25-year-old Sufiyan, son of Bagga Khan, and 28-year-old Muhammad Rafaqat, son of Muhammad Riasat - sustained serious injuries.

The Indian occupation forces have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) .

This year, India has committed 2,530 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 19 shahadats and serious injuries to 197 innocent civilians.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian forces, the foreign ministry underscored that such senseless acts were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

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

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 WB.

The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions.