Indian, Pakistan hold flag meeting in Poonch

Indian and Pakistani army field commanders held a flag meeting on Tuesday at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, an official said here.

"Battalion Commander Level Flag meeting was held at Chakan-Da-Bagh in Poonch Sector at 11 a.m. on Tuesday to take forward the confidence building measures initiated during the Brigade Commander Level Flag meeting on December 22," Col. S.D. Goswami, spokesperson of army's Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command told IANS in winter capital Jammu.

"The representatives of the two armies deliberated over a host of issues, important ones being ceasefire violations, return of inadvertent civilian crossers across LoC, air space violations and construction activity close to the LoC.

"In the meeting which lasted for nearly an hour-and-half, the Colonel-ranked officers leading the respective delegations acknowledged each other's efforts in maintaining peace and tranquility on the line of control in the recent past," Col. Goswami said.

"Both sides mutually agreed to the importance of exercising restraint on the LoC and keeping communications alive through established reconciliation mechanism.

"The Flag Meeting ended on a positive note wherein the two sides exchanged pleasantries and sweets," the spokesperson added.