Pakistan on Tuesday has invited the entire diplomatic corps to visit the restive Line of Control (LoC) and inspect the areas hit by Indian shelling on last Saturday night and Sunday.
According to diplomatic sources, invitations have been extended to heads of missions of all embassies in Islamabad to visit Jura, Shahkot and Nousehri sectors along the LoC and observe the ground situation.
The Foreign Office had also extended an invitation to India’s Charge d’ Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia to prove the claim of Indian army’s chief of hitting camps inside Pakistan, however, no official from the Indian High Commission arrived to visit the LoC situation.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal further affirmed that India has not provided any information about locations of alleged launch pads which it had claimed of destroying inside Pakistan.
He revealed that the FO had been waiting for a response from Indian High Commission, and remained silent when it was asked to visit the LoC to verify to accusations against Pakistan.
A day earlier, ISPR DG Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had invited the Indian High Commission to visit the LoC.
Indian forces had used mortars and artillery to intentionally target civilians in these sectors, which resulted in the martyrdom of five civilians and one Pakistan Army soldier.
The sources said Pakistan did not want a war with India, but if war were imposed, Pakistan would fight it in the same way it did on Feb 27.
Nine soldiers of the Indian army were killed and many others injured when Pakistan Army troops “effectively responded” to the latest Indian ceasefire violations, deliberately targeting civilians, in Jura, Shahkot and Nousehri sectors along the Line of Control, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said on Sunday.
Two bunkers of the Indian army were also destroyed in firing by Pakistani troops.
In a series of tweets, the ISPR had stated: “Targeting innocent civilians by Indian Army is an attempt to justify their false claims of targeting alleged camps. Injured civilians evacuated to District hospitals. UNMOGIP as well as domestic & foreign media have open access to AJK, a liberty not available in IOJ&K.”
Later, India’s Charge d’ Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned to the Foreign Office by Director General (SA&SAARC) Dr Mohammad Faisal, who condemned the “unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces” along the LoC in Jura, Shahkot and Nauseri sectors.
Civilian populated areas along the LoC and Working Boundary have been constantly targeted by the Indian forces with artillery fire, heavy calibre mortars, and automatic weapons. This escalation in ceasefire violations by India had been going on since 2017 when the Indian forces had committed more than 1,970 ceasefire violations, said the FO statement.
“The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws,” it added.
Dr Faisal also stressed that the UN Military Observers Group must be permitted to play their mandated role, as the secretary of civil defence and disaster management said the latest casualties increased this year’s civilian death toll in AJK to 53 and the number of injured to 246.
