FO summons Indian envoy to protest ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: The atrocious and unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing since 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,970 ceasefire violations, and Monday was no exception when an innocent young student, eight-year-old Ayan Zahid, was brutally killed at Khuiratta Sector in Jijot Bahadar village.

Earlier this year, students barely survived a similar attack from across the Line of Control (LOC), and are still being treated for trauma. “The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas, especially children, is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws,” Director General (SA & Saarc) Dr Mohammad Faisal told Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh, who was summoned to the Foreign Office on Tuesday. Singh was reminded that despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations.

“In 2018, the Indian forces have carried out more than 335 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the working boundary, resulting in the Shahadat of 15 innocent civilians and injuries to 65 others,” spokesman at the Foreign Office said in a statement.

The Indian envoy was also reminded about the February 15, 2018 incident when Indian troops also deliberately targeted a school van, leaving the children traumatised and taking out the driver. “The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation. India should 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,” added the spokesman.

Last week, speaking in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping, Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN Maleeha Lodhi said the UN Mission UNMOGIP is a critical factor for stability in the region. “This needs to be expanded to respond to existing threats and realities,” she stressed.

She reiterated Pakistan’s unflinching support to UN peacekeeping, both as one of its largest and consistent contributors and also as host of one of the UN's oldest peacekeeping missions: UNMOGIP.

The Special Committee on Peacekeeping is a unique forum that brings together all peacekeeping stakeholders, troop and police contributors, financial contributors, Security Council members and the UN Secretariat to discuss every aspect of peacekeeping.

Maleeha Lodhi emphasised the need to address the root causes of conflict to bring about lasting peace. Peacekeeping, she said, needs to be strengthened through support for political solutions and mediation processes. “The goal of protection of civilians is best served by preventing the outbreak of armed conflicts in the first place, addressing the root causes of conflicts, and finding inclusive political solutions to disputes,” she added.

Meanwhile, German Ambassador to Pakistan Martin Kobler visited the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Sialkot where he met patients injured due to Indian troops’ firing. "The ambassador wanted to see for himself the damage and the Indian belligerence," one official told The News.