ISLAMABAD, December 8: Pakistan on Friday summoned a senior India diplomat to lodge a protest over the violations along the Line of Control.
“Director General South Asia Dr Mohammed Faisal summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and “condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces on December 7 by the Indian forces in Chirikot Sector, Chaffar Village while a funeral prayer was being offered, resulting in the deaths of two civilians (Shaukat and Iqbal resident of Chaffar village), and injuries to four others,” said a foreign ministry statement. The statement said: “Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations . In 2017 to date, Indian forces have carried out more than 1300 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary, resulting in the deaths of 54 innocent civilians and injuries to 174 others, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016.” The deliberate targeting of civilians, now even at funerals, is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws, it said. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, the statement said. The director general urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this 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. – Agencies
