It should be a matter of concern at the highest level in India and Pakistan that what were sporadic incidents of ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) have now escalated to such an extent that there is imminent danger of regressing to the bad old days before the truce came into effect in 2003, when the two sides used to exchange artillery fire daily, causing casualties among both uniformed personnel and civilians, and infiltration by militants into Jammu and Kashmir was at its highest. In the first seven days of this month alone, there were 11 instances of shelling that left five civilians dead, making a mockery of the 11-year-old ceasefire. Indeed, it can now be legitimately asked if the situation at the LoC still qualifies to be called a ceasefire. The firing is not restricted to the LoC; it has affected even the IB, which Pakistan has not accepted fully and continues to call a “working boundary”. Monday’s incident of shelling from across the border that claimed the five civilian lives was in Arnia, an inhabited area on the outskirts of Jammu. Pakistan also claims to have suffered civilian casualties on its side from “unprovoked” firing by India. It has become all too clear in recent months that the mechanisms that the two countries have put in place to deal with ceasefire violations — provisions for meetings between field commanders and a hotline between the two Directors-General of Military Operations — have not succeeded in calming tensions at the LoC.
Rather, both sides need to restart the dialogue process urgently, instead of routinely pronouncing the willingness to do so without taking the necessary steps forward, and sometimes even backtracking. In the now-suspended composite dialogue format, the two Defence Secretaries met every year and took stock of the truce, among other matters. Such a meeting would be timely now, as it would help tamp down tensions and put in place a viable system to ensure that the ceasefire does not break down altogether. New Delhi must call for the talks without delay. It is true that Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is too embroiled in political difficulties to take decisions on India, but Pakistan’s new Defence Secretary, like his predecessor, is a retired Lieutenant-General who is said to be close to the Army chief. It is only at the table that India can bring up the concern that truce violations are a cover for militant infiltration from Pakistan-controlled territory. More importantly, it is only by talking to Pakistan that India can ensure that the question of saving the truce, and all other issues between the two countries, remains strictly between them.
