MUZAFFARABAD: In yet another loud and clear message to India, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday said that Pakistan was fully aware of Indian designs behind unprovoked ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) as well as New Delhi’s support for terrorist elements in Pakistan and the region.

“Targeting of civilians along the LoC is deliberate, under a design and highly reprehensible,” said the army chief during his visit to the restive dividing line in Mattewala and Munaawar sectors, located in Barnala tehsil of Bhimber district in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

It was Gen Bajwa’s second visit to the LoC in Bhimber district, where three army soldiers were killed on Feb 13 and seven on Nov 13 last year in Indian shelling. Earlier, he had visited the area on Dec 2.

“On one side it is an effort to divert world’s attention from her [Indian] atrocities against the innocent Kashmiris, and on the other, it is an attempt to dilute our response against terrorism and militancy,” Gen Bajwa said, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations.

‘Jadhav’s case to be carried to logical conclusion’

He said Pakistan was fully aware of Indian designs and its support for terrorism in Pakistan and the region.

The case of Kulbhushan Jadhav was evidence of these Indian efforts and his case would be taken to its logical conclusion, Gen Bajwa said of the Indian secret agent who was arrested in March last year.

The COAS, who was received on the LoC by Rawalpindi Corps Commander Lt Gen Nadeem Raza, also attended a briefing by the General Officer Commanding on the operational situation.

Praising the operational readiness of the troops, he said: “Pakistan army soldiers are known for their professional competence, motivation and selfless devotion for defence of their motherland and are the backbone of the armed forces.”

He ordered that unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian troops be responded to effectively.

The COAS made it clear that the army would do its duty to protect the people of Pakistan and AJK against all forms of Indian aggression.

“We will continue our solidarity with people of Indian Occupied Kashmir who are struggling for their right to self-determination,” he said.

In his statement during his earlier visit to the area, he had categorically stated that the core issue between Pakistan and India, of Kashmir, would have to be resolved in accordance with the UN resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people for a lasting peace in the region.

The heavily militarised LoC has been the scene of the worst skirmishes and artillery duels between Indian and Pakistani troops in a grievous breach of the historic 2003 ceasefire agreement struck by the two sides.

The situation worsened even further after an attack by suspected militants on an Indian army base in Uri on Sept 18, which left about 18 Indian soldiers dead. India had later claimed that it had conducted surgical strikes in AJK.

According to military and civilian sources, as many as 40 civilians and 15 Pakistan army personnel have lost their lives to unprovoked and indiscriminate Indian shelling from across the LoC in the ongoing spell of escalations since the Uri attack.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2017