Over 1,000 ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2018

Even as the Indian forces are maintaining a ceasefire against militants in Jammu and Kashmir and border truce with Pakistan, there have have been over 1,000 violations from the Pakistani side of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between New Delhi and Islamabad in 2018 alone, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

"We always taken it very strongly, this matter of unprovoked ceasefire violation with the Pakistani side as it involves loss of life and property," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing here.

"In fact, only this year, in 2018, there have been more than 1,000 unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan," Kumar said.

Stating that Pakistan uses the ceasefire violation to infiltrate terrorists into Indian territory, he said: "We have seen the results of such infiltration in the past. We hope that Pakistan will realise what it is doing and adheres by the 2003 ceasefire agreement between the two countries."

India announced a ceasefire against militants in Jammu and Kashmir and a border truce with Pakistan on May 16 for the ongoing holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

However, unprovoked ceasefire violations continued from the Pakistani side during this period.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that security forces in Jammu and Kashmir will honour the Ramadan ceasefire and the border truce with Pakistan but any "unprovoked" attack won't go unanswered.

"When it is an unprovoked attack, the Army was given the right to retaliate. We honour the ceasefire but, of course, a margin was given to us when it is an unprovoked attack. The ceasefire is the government of India decision and we abide by it," Sitharaman told reporters here.

The border shooting has claimed 36 lives on the Indian side and left more than 120 injured this year.

--IANS

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