Exchange of Gunfire Likely to Shatter 4-Year-Old Fragile Ceasefire Between India, Pakistan
In February 2021, the Indian and Pakistani armies had agreed to a ceasefire agreement
New Delhi: With the Indian and Pakistani armies exchanging gunfire at the Line of Control (LoC) for the second straight day on Saturday, it is only a matter of time before big artillery guns come into action, causing devastation on the frontiers and completely shattering the over 4-year-old fragile ceasefire between the two countries.
In February 2021, the Indian and Pakistani armies had agreed to a ceasefire agreement. Despite some violations, the ceasefire had mostly held till the terrorist attack on the tourists in J&K's Pahalgam. There is now a real danger of calibre escalation going from small guns to mortars guns and finally to 155mm artillery guns.
In 2020 some 24 security personnel were killed in firing and shelling by Pakistan and another 126 injured. Another 22 civilians were killed during ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2020 and 71 injured. In 2019, 18 civilians were killed and 127 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
Before the two armies had agreed to the ceasefire, the year 2020 had witnessed 5,133 ceasefire violations, nearly an 18-year high, at the LoC and international border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. These ceasefire violations were 3,479 in 2019 and 2,140 in 2018. There were nearly 600 incidents in the first two months of 2021 before the ceasefire was implemented.
"On the intervening night of April 25-26, unprovoked small firing was carried out by multiple Pakistan Army posts all across the Line of Control in Kashmir. Indian troops responded appropriately with small arms," said sources in the defence establishment on Saturday. Till now, no casualties have been reported in these confrontations.
Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Upendra Dwivedi, who was in Kashmir, is reported to have given a briefing to defence minister Rajnath Singh about operational readiness. The Army Chief had reviewed the security situation in the Valley and operational situation along the LoC.
The Indian Army also released a chilling video with the tagline "Always Prepared, Ever Vigilant", where forces are seen performing various missions, including para dropping and underwater operations with captions running "no terrain is tough, no mission too far and operationally ready always" seen as a warning to those behind the terror attack. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy posted a bold image of warships in formation, captioned "Mission Ready Anytime, Anywhere, Anyhow".