Headlines
India, Pakistan trade fire -- and charges
New Delhi/Islamabad, July 16
India and
Pakistan on Thursday lodged protests against each other after
cross-border firing in Jammu and Kashmir left one dead and seven people
injured, days after bonhomie between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and
Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan on Thursday summoned India's High
Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan and registered a protest over the firing as
well as an alleged "Indian spy drone". India took up the issue with
Pakistan's envoy Abdul Basit.
The rising tensions along the Jammu
and Kashmir border -- where civilians have been hit hard on both sides
-- follows the July 11 joint statement between India and Pakistan
reached at Ufa, Russia, to build peace.
There have been at least six violations of the 2003 ceasefire by Pakistan in the past four days.
On
July 12, Pakistani forces opened fire at Uri. A day later, there was
firing at Kupwara and Samba. The firing was reported from Jammu sector
on Thursday.
Four people working on their fields in villages in
R.S. Pura near the international border in Jammu and Kashmir were
injured in Pakistani firing on Thursday, a day ahead of Modi's visit to
the region.
The injured were identified as Balvinder Singh, Roop Lal, Sandev Kumar and Varinder Kumar. They were shifted to hospitals.
The
Dawn reported that one person was killed and three injured in
Pakistan's Sialkot district when Indian security forces opened fire at
Pakistani positions.
According to Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations, the victim was 45-year-old Ghulam Mustafa of Malana village.
Heavy firing between Indian and Pakistani security forces started on Thursday at 7 a.m. at four border outposts.
On
Wednesday, a woman was killed and four people - two troopers and two
civilians - were injured in indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan Rangers
in Akhnoor sector.
Villagers living close to the border showed
journalists bullet marks and gaping holes made by Pakistan mortar
shelling on their houses.
India has taken up with Pakistan the
issue of heavy firing. "Yesterday the matter was raised with (Pakistan
High Commissioner) Abdul Basit," official sources told IANS.
The Pakistan Foreign Office summoned the Indian envoy and registered a strong protest with him, reported Geo TV.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said India should respect and abide by all bilateral agreements.
Pakistan
on Wednesday said an "Indian spy drone" was shot down by its army along
the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India denied the
claim.
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Thursday
that the drone brought down by Pakistan was not from India and was of
Chinese origin that was commercially available.
A protest was
also lodged for the overnight unprovoked ceasefire violation by India's
Border Security Force (BSF) at the LoC and Working Boundary.