Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tasnim Aslam on Thursday said that the claims by the Indian Army Chief on the Line of Control (LoC) violations were regrettable.
In a weekly briefing, Ms. Aslam in response to questions said such statements were provocative and unfortunate. As the Director-General Inter Services Public Relations has already pointed out, statements like these and claims of this sort tend to deteriorate the situation, she said.
The Indian Army Chief Bikram Singh had recently said that ten Pakistani soldiers were killed and if Pakistan violated the LoC the Indian side would not keep quiet. “We have always tried to maintain tranquility on the line of control. It was with this in view that our Director General Military Operations had invited his Indian counterpart for talks. They had a constructive meeting and they agreed on a number of measures. We expect India to abide by the agreement,” she said.
She also pointed out that there have been incessant violations of the LoC from the Indian side since January 2013. In these firing incidents, some soldiers and some civilians were martyred. She did not give details about the killing of Pakistani soldiers referred to by Gen. Singh.
Earlier, a military spokesperson had said that the Indian Army chief’s statement on Monday regarding ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC was contrary to facts on the ground. The Pakistan Army respects the ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit, a statement had said. Last week military sources had said that one civilian was injured in firing by Indian troops near the LoC in the Jandrot Sub Sector.
At about 2.30 pm, Indian troops from Jumma post fired on a civilian named Zafar Mehmood, a resident of Red village, who had inadvertently crossed 200 metres across the LoC for cutting firewood.
