This photo taken from a Pakistani military post shows a general view of Bandla Valley in the Bhimber district near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir run by Pakistan.
Issam Ahmed | AFP | Getty Images
India and Pakistan have issued a joint statement saying both parties have agreed to stop the shooting along their disputed border in Kashmir on Thursday.
The Director-General of Military Operations for the two countries held discussions in which they described the situation along the line of control – the de facto border between the Indian and Pakistani parts of Kashmir – in a ‘free, frank and cordial atmosphere’. the statement posted by India.
Collisions and cross-border shelling along the line of control have been reportedly killed regularly over the past few months.
“In the interest of mutual benefit and sustainable peace along the borders, the two (Director-General) have agreed to address each other’s core issues and concerns that are likely to disrupt peace and lead to violence,” the statement said. . It added that both parties will use existing mechanisms, including a hotline to resolve tensions and misunderstandings.
Kashmir has always been a point of contention for the two rivals with nuclear weapons. Pakistan and India claim the full territory but control only parts of it.
They waged several wars over the mountainous region. In 2019, tensions escalated when both countries carried out retaliatory airstrikes against each other, raising concerns about a war in South Asia.
Since then, India has stripped the state of Jammu & Kashmir of its special status which enabled it to make its own laws and change the state in the trade union areas of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Pakistan has criticized the move.
The Indian media reported this week that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, said at a conference in Sri Lanka that Kashmir is the only dispute his country has with India and that it can only be resolved through dialogue.
Separately, India responded on Wednesday to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, saying that Pakistan has’ one of the worst human rights records in the world ‘, and that it must’ put its own house in order before it dares to show. a finger to India. ‘