A special hotline contact was established on Tuesday between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO) of Pakistan and India in a bid to defuse the volatile situation along the Working Boundary (WB) and the Line of Control (LoC).
"The DGMOs mutually agreed to undertake sincere measures to improve the existing situation ensuring peace and avoidance of hardships to the civilians along the borders," Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a press statement.
The senior officials agreed to "fully implement the ceasefire understanding of 2003 in letter and spirit forthwith and to ensure that henceforth the ceasefire will not be violated by both sides".
According to the ISPR, the two agreed to exercise restraint and resolve matters through hotline contacts and border flag meetings at the local commanders' level in case of any future incidents.
The heavily-militarised LoC has witnessed ceasefire violations in the recent past. The wave of cross-border attacks had surged after September 2016 in a serious breach of a truce signed by the two armies in November 2003.
Apart from heavy mortar shelling, Indian troops have resorted to deliberate targeting of civilians with small arms while they conduct daily chores in vulnerable areas along the LoC in AJK.
As of May 15, the death toll for 2018 had already reached 21, including 15 males and six females. Another 119 persons have been injured.
“In 2017, 46 civilians were killed in similar attacks and another 262 wounded, while the number of the deceased and injured persons in 2016 was 41 and 142 respectively,” according to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).
