Pakistan on Monday summoned a senior Indian diplomat and lodged a strong protest over a recent “ceasefire violation by Indian forces,” claiming that Indian forces violated a 2003 border agreement 1,595 times this year. India repeatedly violates the ceasefire despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Indian forces carried out indiscriminate and unprovoked firing in Nikial sector of the Line of Control (LoC), injured five civilians including two women and three children late Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Previously, an Indian diplomat had been summoned in June as well, to discuss “unprovoked firing” in Karela Sector on Thursday, resulting in serious injuries to a 28-year-old villager.
India continuously violates ceasefire agreement
LoC, a de facto border, divides the disputed Kashmir valley between Pakistan and India.
“The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 1,595 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 14 shahadats [martyrdom] and serious injuries to 121 innocent civilians,” the statement added.
Indian diplomat summoned to lodge protest over CFVs along LoC https://t.co/aSYdUAQObB pic.twitter.com/WnrFCndC3f
— 92 News HD Plus (@92newschannel) July 6, 2020
Targeting civilians, it said, is a clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and against the all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.
“These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC, and are a threat to regional peace and security,” the press release said, adding that by raising tensions along the border, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian administered Kashmir.
India, on the contrary, accused Pakistan, saying that the latter violated ceasefire 2,027 times as of June 10, 2020, according to Economic Times newspaper.
Earlier, Pakistan’s army said it responded effectively to Indian firing.
Why is India violating ceasefire?
An an op-ed written for Global Village Space says, the most immediate reason for India’s violation of the ceasefire seems to be Islamabad’s boycott of India-led South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) video link conference, which perhaps has hurt Modi’s ego ultimately leading to irrational behaviour of New Delhi to its neighbour. Since the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic in South Asia, Modi seems to be a supporter of regionalism.
Read more: Why is India violating ceasefire on LOC amid corona?
Modi considered it an opportunity to assume the region’s leadership through his initiative of SAARC fund to curb Covid-19 pandemic. Modi’s government had actively lobbied with other SAARC members – Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan – to cancel the 2016 Summit scheduled to take place in Islamabad and tried to isolate Pakistan at a regional level.
At SAARC’s platform, Modi seems conscious of regional cooperation against Covid-19, while his administration is hyperactive in adopting an aggressive posture against its neighbours in general and Pakistan in particular. The principled stance of Islamabad over Modi’s initiative and subsequent response of New Delhi is a glaring example of Modi’s egoistic and irrational politics.
OIC takes notice of India’s violence in Kashmir
The human rights body of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) wants a halt to Kashmir abuse by India. It demanded in late June that India be compelled to “halt rights violations” in Jammu and Kashmir.
Read more: OIC wants halt to Kashmir abuse by India
In a statement on Twitter, the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) “urged the OIC to compel India to halt its gross and systematic human rights violations; refrain from altering the geographic and demographic status of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir; provide access to UN/OIC fact-finding missions and let Kashmiris exercise their legitimate right to self-determination.”
“The IPHRC highlighted the sufferings of Kashmiri Muslims due to a communication blackout in IOJ&K [Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir],” the statement said, adding it also condemned “extrajudicial killings” of Kashmiris and rejected newly notified “Reorganization” and “Domicile Rules 2020” which are “violative of #IHRL [international humanitarian laws] including the 4th Geneva Convention.
The latest surge in violence in the disputed Himalayan valley this year has left over 100 suspected Kashmiri freedom fighters dead. More than 72 have been killed since the coronavirus pandemic emerged in the region on March 20.
Tensions between India and Pakistan on the rise over Kashmir
The already fraught relations between the two South Asian nuclear rivals have further flared up after India scrapped special provisions of the state of Jammu and Kashmir last August.
Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed special status under the Indian Constitution, which allowed it to enact its own laws.
The provisions also protected the region’s citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.Both India and Pakistan hold Kashmir in parts and claim it in full. China also controls a part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan who have fought two wars over Kashmir.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk
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