India and Pakistan should formalise the 2003 ceasefire to avoid the situation from “deteriorating further”, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, said here on Monday even as a sharp escalation in crossfire claimed four lives on both sides of the Line of Control and International Boundary (IB).
Referring to the lack of dialogue between both countries, Mr. Basit said it was important to “strictly adhere to confidence building measures”, and called the firing at the LoC an “unnecessary escalation”.
India has accused Pakistan of shelling citizens living close to the LoC in Jammu’s Kanachak region, and opening “unprovoked fire” in which an eight-year-old boy and a BSF (Border Security Force) soldier were killed on Monday. Pakistan said two civilians including a one-year old child were killed on its side in what India referred to as retaliatory fire.
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“It is very easy to destroy things, but takes years and years to build. So if we put this down the drain, you can imagine how long it will take to rebuild, and this is why we would propose that India and Pakistan agree to formalise the 2003 ceasefire understanding. That would help to stop the situation from further deteriorating until we are able to resume talks, ” Mr. Basit said at a talk organised by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Terming India’s policy of diplomatically isolating Pakistan as “unfeasible”, Mr. Basit advised media channels that advocate “bringing Pakistan to its knees” to “lower their rhetoric”. “Unfortunately the official position is not very different (from television anchors),” Mr. Basit said.