ISLAMABAD: A senior Indian diplomat was summoned to the Foreign Office on Wednesday to receive protest over latest ceasefire violations due to which three civilians lost their lives.

“Director General [South Asia & SAARC], Dr Mohammad Faisal, summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Mr Gaurav Ahluwalia and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on 2nd and 5th May 2019,” FO said.

While violating the ceasefire, Indian troops fired on civilian targets in Rakhchikri Sector along LoC on May 2 in which a 15-year-old boy Tahir Hafeez was martyred while his nine-year-old sister Tahira sustained serious injuries.

Three civilians lost their lives in unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian occupation forces

In another incident on May 5 in Hotspring and Kotkotera sectors along LoC, two civilians including a woman Nasreen Bibi and a 12-year-old child Mohammad Zahid, son of Shabbir Ahmed, were martyred while a woman Sonia Bibi sustained injuries.

“The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons,” FO said, adding that this unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India has been ongoing since 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations.

“The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” Dr Faisal told the Indian diplomat.

Dr Faisal urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate these 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 further asked the Indian side to permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role according to the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2019