India, Pakistan lodge protests

With reports that eight civilians were killed in the Jammu region due to unprovoked firing and shelling by Pakistani troops, India on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with Pakistan when Islamabad summoned Indian deputy high commissioner J.P. Singh to lodge a protest with India over the alleged killing of six civilians on Monday on the Pakistani side. Pakistan has in turn accused India of unprovoked firing.

In New Delhi, government sources said Indian deputy high commissioner J.P. Singh “strongly protested that there have been deaths on the Indian side also because of unprovoked firing from the Pakistani side mainly to give cover to infiltrators”. In a statement from Islamabad, Pakistan said, “The (Pakistani) director general (SA & SAARC), Dr Mohammed Faisal, summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner, Mr J.P. Singh, today (1 November 2016) and strongly condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations on 31 October 2016, by the Indian Forces on the LoC in Nikial and Jandrot sectors, resulting in... (the death) of 6 civilians, including a woman and injuries to eight civilians, including 2 women.”

The 2003 ceasefire between the two countries on the LoC and international border that bifurcates J&K and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) lies in tatters due to heavy shelling by the militaries and paramilitary of the two countries. India says it is retaliating in adequate measure to unprovoked Pakistani firing which started soon after India announced to the world that it had carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK following the Uri terror attack.

According to news agency reports from Islamabad, this was the fifth time in just over a week that Indian diplomats were summoned to the foreign office. The foreign office had summoned deputy high commissioner Singh on October 25, 26 and 28. On October 27, foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry summoned Indian high commissioner Gautam Bambawale to the foreign ministry.