India retaliates to Pak small arms firing across LoC on second night running
Resurgence of skirmishes along LoC worries border residents
Srinagar: On the second consecutive night, the Pakistani troops fired small arms across the Line of Control (LoC) in their attempt to target the Indian forward positions, but no casualties were reported in this “unprovoked” action, the military officials said here. They added that the Indian Army returned the fire using the same calibre weapons.
The resurgence of skirmishes along the 745-km long LoC which was called the ceasefire line between the two parts of Jammu and Kashmir before the Simla Agreement has caused significant worry among border residents and they face heightened fear in view of rising tensions.
The divide line which stretches from the Siachen Glacier in the north to at Chicken’s Neck corridor in Akhnoor sector of the Jammu region where the 198-km stretch of the International Border (IB), often referred to as ‘Jammu-Sialkot border’ (Working Boundary in Pakistan) starts was formalised after the 1971 war, delineated in the 1972 Simla Agreement and renamed as LoC.
Pakistan had on Thursday announced that it would hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement, in abeyance. This and several other measures including closure of the Wagah border and suspension of all trade with New Delhi, was in response to India’s punitive actions like suspending the 1960 Indus Water Treaty with immediate effect along with other tough measures following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam which left 26 tourists dead, and several others injured.
The officials said that on the night of April 25 and 26, unprovoked small arms firings were carried out by various Pakistan army posts across the LoC in Kashmir and that the Indian troops responded “appropriately” with same calibre weapons.
The Pakistan authorities have put their country’s Army and Rangers on high alert following India’s assertion that it would hunt down the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam carnage. Some reports suggest that Pakistan has, amid rising tensions, increased military activity along the LoC with troop deployments and heavy equipment movement, including howitzers and tanks toward the borders.
On Saturday, the Government of India issued an advisory to all media houses and social media users to refrain from showing live coverage of defence operations and movement of security forces in the border areas or elsewhere. It said, “In the interest of national security, all media platforms, news agencies, and social media users are advised to exercise utmost responsibility and adhere strictly to existing laws and regulations while reporting on matters concerning defence and other security related operations”.
I added that specifically no real-time coverage, dissemination of visuals, or reporting based on "sources-based" information related to defence operations or movement should be undertaken. It cautioned that premature disclosure of sensitive information may inadvertently assist hostile elements and endanger operational effectiveness and the safety of personnel.