ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned the latest Indian ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) as “senseless acts” aimed at distracting attention from the aggravating humanitarian situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned by Director General (South Asia & Saarc) Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri on Monday to lodge protest over the ceasefire breaches on Sunday.

Indian troops had been firing artillery and heavy mortars on civilian settlements along the LoC since last Friday. Forty-one incidents of violations were recorded only on Sunday, taking the tally so far this year to 749. Three civilians, including an infant, have been martyred due to multiple Indian shelling incidents this year.

“Due to the indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian forces, a two-year-old child, Mohammad Haseeb, son of Mohammad Yousaf, embraced shahadat in Dhudnial sector (on April 12),” the Foreign Office said in its statement mentioning the latest casualty.

The FO said Indian troops in latest incidents targeted civilian population with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons.

Mr Chaudhri told the Indian diplomat that senseless targeting of innocent civilians would further vitiate the tense atmosphere along the LoC and threaten regional peace and security.

“By raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB), India cannot divert attention from the worsening human rights situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

He underscored that the Indian firing along the LoC and WB was in violation of the 2003 ceasefire understanding and complete disregard for international human rights and international norms.

Mr Chaudhri urged India to respect the 2003 ceasefire understanding; investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and WB.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2020