Pakistan Friday summoned top Indian diplomat and lodged strong protest with him on the unprovoked ceasefire violation by Indian troops in Chirikot Sector. Director General South Asia and SAARC, Dr Mohammad Faisal, who is also official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces on December 7, 2017 in Chirikot Sector, Chaffar village, when a funeral prayer was being offered.
The spokesperson said Indian unprovoked ceasefire resulted in the loss of two civilian lives, namely Shaukat and Iqbal, residents of Chaffar village. He said that four others also sustained injuries due to the Indian firing. "Despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations," the spokesperson said.
In 2017 to date, he said, Indian forces had carried out more than 1,300 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, resulting in the martyrdom of 54 innocent civilians and injuries to 174 others, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016. "The deliberate targeting of civilians, now even at funerals, is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," he said, adding the ceasefire violations by India were a threat to regional peace and security and might lead to a strategic miscalculation.
The director general urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire agreement, 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. He urged that Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.