ISLAMABAD: A senior Indian diplomat was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday to register Pakistan's strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on 14 Oct, resulting in serious injuries to two innocent civilians, Foreign Office said.

Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Jandrot Sector of the LoC, a 25-year-old Sufiyan, son of Bagga Khan and 28-year-old Muhammad Rafaqat, son of Muhammad Riasat, resident of Barmoch village, sustained serious injuries.

It pointed out that the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons.

This year, India has committed 2,530 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 19 martyrdoms and serious injuries to 197 innocent civilians, it added. Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against 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," it stated, adding that it was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).

It added that Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB. The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, the Foreign Office said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020