ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A senior diplomat from the High Commission of India was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Saturday to register Pakistan’s strong protest on the ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nezapir and Rakhchikri Sectors on February 14, 2020.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said that due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by Indian occupation forces, an innocent civilian minor, 13 year old Abida Jamal d/o Muhammad Jamal, resident of village Fatehpur, sustained serious injuries.
بھارتی فوج کی نیزہ پیراور رکھ چکری سیکٹر میں بلااشتعال فائرنگ pic.twitter.com/SVvfJRgXU9
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) February 14, 2020
The Foreign Office said that the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and Working Boundary have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons, which still continues. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations. This year India has committed 287 ceasefire violations to date.
The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation.
Pakistan urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding; investigate these 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 the Working Boundary. It was emphasized that by raising tensions along the LoC, India cannot divert attention from the worsening human rights situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K). It was further underscored that India must allow UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
