New Delhi (Sputnik): The Pakistan Army has violated the bilateral ceasefire agreement with India 1,248 times on the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between India and Pakistan, during the first six months of 2019. The Indian Army has retaliated “appropriately”, said Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, the Defense Minister said Indian authorities had raised this issue with Pakistan authorities through the established mechanisms including hotlines, flag-meetings and diplomatic channels.
The minister also told parliament that this year four persons were killed in shelling by Pakistan forces along the LoC.
In 2003, the two neighbours signed a ceasefire agreement at the LoC, it was billed as the biggest confidence building measure (CBM) between them at the time.
Relations between New Delhi and Islamabad soured after a series of incidents, the Kargil conflict in 1999, failed Summit between the two countries in Agra and the attack on Indian Parliament in 2001.
Earlier this year, tensions between the two countries escalated, after 40 members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force were killed by a suicide bomber in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. India accused Pakistan of providing safe heaven and logistic support to the secessionists and bombed suspected terror camps in the Pakistan-controlled Balakot area on 26 February. The Pakistan Air Force retaliated a day later, leading to a dogfight.
