RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: The Indian border security force resorted to unprovoked firing on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rawlakot sector on Saturday that left a 60-year-old person dead.
“A sixty-year-old civilian Muhammad Aslam, resident of Polas village, was cutting grass and wood one hundred to 150 metres inside the LoC in AJK when he came under Indian firing and embraced martyrdom,” the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
The ISPR said that the Pakistan forces befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing.
Pakistan calls upon India to stop ceasefire violations
Meanwhile, Pakistan has lodged a protest with India over the casualty of a Muhammad Aslam, and called upon New Delhi to restrain its security forces from firing on the civilians and stop the ceasefire violations across the LoC and the Working Boundary.
“The Government of Pakistan, today, has lodged protest with the Government of India through diplomatic channels over the casualty of a 60 year old civilian Muhammad Aslam in the Rawlakot sector, caused due to indiscriminate firing by the Indian security forces,” the Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said in a statement.
The spokesperson said that the government of Pakistan offers its condolences to the bereaved family of the victim.
The firing incident took place a day after the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, during which the latter expressed the desire to have friendly relations with all its neighboring countries including India to ensure regional peace and development.
Sharif told Modi that Pakistan wants resolution of all outstanding disputes with India through dialogue. He said that dialogue between Pakistan and India is imperative for peace and stability in the region.
The relations between Pakistan and India have become even more tenuous and strained since Modi government arrived in New Delhi in May last year.
The unilateral cancellation of bilateral dialogue process by India and the consistent incidents of ceasefire violations by the Indian forces at the LoC and the Working boundary have caused the tension between Pakistan-India ties.