Pakistan lodges protest with India over ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: Indian Charge’d Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned by the Foreign Office here on Monday to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the ceasefire violations by Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kotkotera and Karela sectors on January 11 resulting into the Shahadat of an innocent civilian.

Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian forces, 24-year-old Muhammad Ishtiaque from Chowki village of tehsil and district Khuiratta embracedmartyrdom. Condemning the targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, Director General South Asia and Saarc Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry underscored that such senseless Indian acts in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding and complete disregard for international human rights and international norms are a threat to regional peace and security.

He said that by raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary, India cannot divert attention from the worsening human rights violations taking place in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). He called upon the Indian side to respect the Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He also urged that India should permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council Resolutions.