Shakargarh: Indian troops open unprovoked fire at Charwah Sector
India violated LoC ceasefire at Rawlakot, Battal, Madar, Donga, Bajwat, Ghumer and Kotli sectors.
SHAKARGARH (Dunya News) - In another act of aggression, Indian troops opened unprovoked firing on Pakistani posts in Shakargarh and Narowal’s Jagwal sector on Monday.
As per details, Indian border forces used heavy weapons in the sixth incident of firing over across the border during the last two weeks.
The Indian guns fell silent after the Pakistani troops retaliated strongly.
The resumption of violence along the border threatens to sabotage recent overtures by the two countries aimed at resuming peace talks and increasing the flow of cross-border trade.
Pakistan and India have long been enemies and have fought three major wars since both countries gained independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over control of Kashmir.
A Pakistani military official said that Indian troops opened "unprovoked firing" in the early morning hours Monday in three sectors along the Kashmir border: Battal, Chirikot and Satwal.
A civilian named Muhammad Zubair was killed by the shelling, the official said.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry summoned India s deputy high commissioner in Islamabad to protest the incident and called on the country to uphold the 2003 cease-fire agreement, the ministry said in a statement.
"Pakistan is committed to a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India and believes that serious efforts need to be made in maintaining a positive atmosphere and avoid negative propaganda," the ministry said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his concern about the incidents last week and said both sides should make sure the situation doesn t escalate. He came to power in June with the intention of improving relations with India.
Sharif is especially interested in boosting trade, which Pakistan desperately needs to bolster its stuttering economy.
But analysts are worried that the latest violence could give ammunition to hawks on both sides to sabotage any moves toward normalizing relations.
Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said Monday that the government was not currently considering granting most favored nation trading status for India, despite hope that Sharif would move quickly on the issue once in office.
Pakistan announced in 2011 that it would grant India most favored nation trading status, something India did in 1996. But domestic pressure from businesses worried about competition prevented the previous government from following through.
Now it appears that tension with India could be causing the current government to also put on the brakes.
