From being billed as mother of "all confidence building measures" to derision as a "cosmetic step", Srinagar-Muzaffarabad cross-Line of Control bus service has survived tensions between India and Pakistan including Mumbai terror attacks and numerous ceasefire violations along the border to complete 10 years of its operation on Tuesday.
Senior military officials of India and Pakistan will meet on Friday in Pooch sector in Jammu and Kashmir to discuss ways to strengthen the ceasefire along the Line of Control against the backdrop of violations in the recent past.
During the visit to the LoC to review the security situation after the killing of five Indian soldiers in Poonch on Tuesday, the Army Chief pulled up the formation commanders there, sources said in New Delhi.
Pakistani troops violated ceasefire on Saturday by targeting Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district with rocket projectile grenades and heavy machine guns this morning leading to heavy firing exchanges.
"The troops along LoC in Tangdhar sector observed some suspicious movement past midnight. On being challenged, the militant opened fire at Army positions which was retaliated," an Army spokesman said in Srinagar.
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Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control by opening fire on Indian posts in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday night.
Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma on Monday visited the Tangdhar sector of the Line of Control in north Kashmir's Kupwara district.
The Pakistan army used heavy weaponry, firing 120 mm mortars targeting civilian hamlets and forward posts since 5.30 pm on Tuesday, said an army officer.
Indian Army planners find themselves contemplating the possibility of more Chinese intrusions along the contested 3,488-km border. That could lead to the army having to man a 'hardened LAC' round the year, like the LoC with Pakistan, reports Ajai Shukla.
Pakistan is expected to seek a bigger role for the United Nations military observers deployed along the Line of Control when the Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan meet for the first time in 14 years on Tuesday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said a contact was established between India's NSA Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua after recent tension between the two countries on the LoC.
Indian army sources say units deployed along the LoC have been instructed to retaliate strongly whenever Pakistani forces open fire and violates the ceasefire. There have been 28 violations along the LoC starting from Poonch right up to Kargil since August 6
Pakistan's Border Action Team set up the ambush and waited for long for the patrol team, while Pakistani troops attacked two forward posts with rockets and mortar bombs along the Line of Control in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The intense shelling from across the border also prompted the authorities to suspend class work in nearly half a dozen government-run schools falling within the firing range in Poonch district.
India and Pakistan will hold a 'brigade commander' level flag meeting along the LoC in Poonch on Saturday to discuss the recent ceasefire violations by the latter.
"There was firing from the Pakistan side across LoC on our forward post Copra in Sabzian sub-sector of Poonch district on Thursday night," a senior army officer told PTI on Friday.Since January, Pakistani troops have violated the five-year-old ceasefire agreement 32 times and provoked reactions from Indian troops, though the latter refused to retaliate on most occasions. Seven incidents of ceasefire violation in Poonch-Rajouri sector were reported during August and September.
Pakistani troops yet again violated the bilateral ceasefire in the Hamirpur area along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu region late on Wednesday evening, a defence spokesperson said.
The army has foiled an infiltration bid by terrorists along the Line of Control in Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir, killing an ultra.
People living in areas close to Line of Control in Kashmir are demanding special grant for construction of bunkers to escape shelling as India and Pakistan have resumed hostilities by heavy firing at each others' position.
Speaking to media-persons after paying his last tributes to five soldiers, including two Army captains, who lost their lives in the Rajouri firefight, Lt Gen Dwivedi said, "While we lost five of our brave soldiers in the encounter, we also eliminated two dreaded terrorists. Our boys went after the well-trained and equipped foreign terrorists without giving any thought to their personal safety. This (taking out the dreaded terrorists) has dealt a major blow to the terror ecosystem and Pakistan. As per our estimation, 20-25 terrorists could still be operating in the area. We should be able to control the situation in a year's time with the help of locals."
As Islamabad on Tuesday assured New Delhi of its commitment to make the truce hold along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops would have a flag meeting on Wednesday at an LoC point in Poonch sector against the backdrop of recent disquiet caused by unprovoked Pakistani firing.
'Our armed forces are prepared for any eventuality, and God forbid if the balloon goes up, people will get a bloody nose from us'
Ceasefire violations by Pakistan continued as intermittent small arm fire was on through Thursday night in Balakota and Sabzian area in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The firing started at 9:30 pm and continued till the morning.
Security forces foiled an infiltration bid and gunned down three militants on the Line of Control in frontier Poonch district on Thursday evening.
The Indian Army on Tuesday said the ceasefire violation along the Line of Control in Kashmir, which left two soldiers dead, was part of terrorists' plan to infiltrate into the Valley before the natural passes are closed by snowfall.
With no let up in ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that India should "respond in kind" if these persist and BSF asked its men to retaliate strongly while Army said it is prepared to deal with any situation.
An army jawan was killed on Tuesday night when Pakistani troops opened fire at Indian forward posts in Balakote sub-sector along the Line of Control in Poonch district in what is stated to be the second ceasefire violation of the day and the eighth in less than a week.
Acting on specific input about the presence of terrorists in the Wanigam Payeen Kreeri area of Baramulla district in north Kashmir, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there early Thursday morning, a police official said.
The forces have also taken other steps such as electrification of three-tiered border fencing and installation of heat sensing electronic gadgets and night vision devices (NVDs).
This is the second such incident along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu division in two days.
There are always attempts from across the border to push in more terrorists before the onset of winter and closure of tracks due to heavy snowfall, but the security forces are alert and would foil any infiltration bids, Border Security Force Director General Nitin Agrawal said in Srinagar Thursday.
Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the third consecutive day on Monday by firing small arms on forward posts and four hamlets in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.
The Delhi high court on Monday refused to quash an Enforcement Directorate money laundering case against media baron Raghav Bahl, saying the plea was "premature".
In a major ceasefire violation, the Pakistan army on Thursday night fired mortar rounds at the Indian positions in the Keran sector, along the Line of Control in north Kashmir.A defence spokesman said, "Fourteen mortar rounds were fired at our positions in the Keran sector of the LoC in north Kashmir's Kupwara district last night"."Our troops retaliated with small arms and during the search of the area, bodies of two terrorists were recovered," said an army official.
Amid escalation of ceasefire violations along the LoC, Pakistan has accused India of rejecting its efforts to preserve tranquility at the border and asked India to give peace a chance by "restraining" its forces.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said there is no ground for interference with the trial court's order.
Recalling the operation, Kima's then commanding officer wrote an emotional and an endearing post that was shared with multiple Border Security Force officers over social media platforms.
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India and Pakistan will hold a flag meeting at the Brigade Commander level at Chakan De Bagh crossing in the Poonch district on Monday to address the issue of ceasefire violations on the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir.
Amid continued tension along the Line of Control, Pakistan on Sunday asked India to resume bilateral talks in the larger interests of peace, even as it claimed that it was only reacting to Indian army's actions.
