July 30, 2008	Wednesday	Rajab 26, 1429

NEW DELHI, July 29: India on Tuesday described the skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops across the LoC as unfortunate, and appealed to Islamabad not to vitiate the atmosphere as it disturbs the peace process between the two countries.

“It would be my appeal to the Pakistani authorities to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained and both sides maintain peace and tranquillity at the border,” Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Tehran.

Mr Mukherjee was attending the Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting hosted by Iran. He was quoted by PTI as saying that all issues between India and Pakistan were being discussed under the umbrella of the Composite Dialogue process and that process should be allowed to continue.

“Nothing should be done to vitiate the atmosphere... ,” he said.

Asked whether the ceasefire violation had put the India-Pakistan relations in choppy waters, Mr Mukherjee said: “I would not like to say that... The fact of the matter is unfortunately in the last few weeks occasions of violation of ceasefire have taken place, and ceasefire is very important.”

Mr Mukherjee noted that there had been incidents of violation of ceasefire earlier, but they were dealt with locally and by the director-general of military operations.

The Hindu newspaper said Monday’s shootout was the most serious fighting to erupt between the two armies since a ceasefire went into force in 2003.

It said four Pakistani troops and an Indian soldier were reported killed in a skirmish on the LoC. An Indian Army spokesperson, quoted by The Hindu, said the fighting began after 15 Pakistani troops, waving a white flag, signalled they wished to parley with soldiers at an Indian post near the border town of Handwara.

“Pakistani troops apparently called for the parley to protest against the construction of new Indian Army fortifications close to Eagle Post, on the LoC,” the paper reported from Srinagar.

“Under circumstances that are unclear, Army sources said, the parley degenerated into an abusive exchange. Pakistani troops opened fire at Eagle Post at about 3pm, killing a soldier of the 22 Rajput Regiment. Although independent confirmation was not available, four Pakistani soldiers were reported killed in Indian retaliatory firing.”

The Hindu noted that more than a dozen clashes had taken place this year, and, it said, Indian strategists believed it was a calibrated effort by the Pakistan military to escalate tensions on the LoC. The purpose was to “justify pulling out troops from its unsuccessful counter-terrorism operations in the North West Frontier Province.”