Ending the fragile calm that lasted for over two months, Indian officials on Monday accused Pakistan of violating the 2003 ceasefire agreement along the international border in Samba.
According to Border Security Force, Pakistani rangers allegedly resorted to unprovoked firing at its men along the International Border in Ramgarh sector of Samba district.
“Today morning Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing at 0615 hrs in Ramgarh sector on BSF patrolling party ahead of fencing. No loss of injury to own troops,” BSF said in a statement.
A senior BSF official said there was no loss of life or injury reported during the firing. “This is the first breach of ceasefire agreement,” the official said.
“There was a BSF patrol ahead of the border fence in Ramgarh which was targeted by the Pak rangers,” the official said.
India and Pakistan had pledged in February to uphold the 2003 agreement which had brought a semblance of calm on border areas. The new vows to uphold the agreement had also led to fall in infiltration across the border.
“There has been a 100 per cent drop in the ceasefire violations since the ceasefire agreement was resumed by India and Pakistan and no fresh cases of infiltration were reported,” J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh had said in March.
On February 4, 2021, Indian and Pakistan issued a joint statement agreeing to strictly observe the ceasefire agreement signed by the two countries in 2003. Monday’s is the first violation of the joint statement issued by the two countries in February this year.
The move is likely to shadow the ongoing efforts by the two countries to open channels of communication which are expected to revive the stalled dialogue process over Kashmir.
Pakistan has been seeking reversal of the decision made by New Delhi on August 5, 2019, when it revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, a demand that has few buyers in India which is led by a populist Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi.