New Delhi: Establishing a hotline between the heads of the border guarding forces of India and Pakistan — on the lines of the hotline between the DGMOs of the two countries — is in the works as part of a move by the Modi and Nawaz Sharif governments to keep the line of communication open between India’s BSF and the Pakistan Rangers during real-time incidents of firing on the IB to minimise ‘civilian casualties’.
Amidst escalating tension and a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC and IB in Jammu and Kashmir over the last one year, with two fresh instances reported on Wednesday, BSF chief D.K. Pathak briefed Union home minister Rajnath Singh on the talks with the Pakistan Rangers, which began on Thursday, with top sources indicating that if the talks are ‘fruitful’, the Modi government will think of initiating the next level of dialogue to engage Islamabad.
The move is significant as both countries had recently engaged in a bitter war of words that led to the cancellation of NSA-level talks over Pakistan’s move to meet Kashmiri separatists.
Significantly, on Friday, both forces will hold an unscheduled meeting where they will formalise the agreed measures to bring down casualties and ceasefire violations on the border.
The Pakistan Rangers director-general (Punjab), Maj. Gen. Umar Farooq Burki, will also meet Mr Rajnath Singh on Friday. At Thursday’s meeting, the BSF is learnt to have achieved success in its talks with the 16-member Pakistani delegation as both sides agreed to “work out ways to reduce such incidents in future”.
Both sides have agreed to re-introduce the simultaneous coordinated patrolling system at the border.
