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Pakistan Army troops opened fire at multiple locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday night, in a significant escalation that marks a serious breach of the existing ceasefire agreement. Meanwhile, the Indian Army responded “effectively,” top military sources confirmed, as reported by news agency PTI.
“There were incidents of small arms firing at some places on the Line of Control initiated by Pakistan,” PTI quoted an unnamed source as saying. “The firing was effectively responded to.”
This latest exchange of fire comes just days after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that left 26 people dead and reignited tensions between the two neighbours.
In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, India has launched a series of retaliatory measures targeting Pakistan’s diplomatic and strategic interests. These include the expulsion of Pakistani military attachés, immediate suspension of the Attari land-transit post, and a historic decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, which has governed river water sharing between the two countries since 1960.
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India formally notified Pakistan on Thursday that the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty is effective immediately. The announcement was made through a letter from the Union Ministry of Water Resources to Syed Ali Murtuza, Secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources of Pakistan.
The letter stated, “The obligation to honour a treaty in good faith is fundamental to a treaty. However, what we have seen instead is sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.”
It further emphasised that Pakistan has repeatedly ignored India’s efforts to address key issues within the treaty framework, especially in light of “fundamental changes in the circumstances that have taken place since the Treaty was executed.”
These changes, the letter outlined, include “significantly altered population demographics, the need to accelerate the development of clean energy, and other changes in the assumptions underlying the sharing of waters under the Treaty.”
The letter also pointed out that Pakistan’s refusal to engage in negotiations, as mandated under the treaty, constitutes a direct breach of the agreement.
“Furthermore, apart from other breaches committed by it, Pakistan has refused to respond to India’s request to enter into negotiations as envisaged under the Treaty and is thus in breach of the Treaty,” the letter added.
The move to suspend the treaty was finalised during a high-level meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Following the Pahalgam attack, PM Modi had vowed to “identify, track, and punish” every terrorist and their “backers” involved in the incident.
(With inputs from PTI)
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