Asia

Pakistan Summons Indian Diplomat Amid Heavy Firing at Border

New Delhi (Sputnik): Amid reports of a massive deployment of troops and heavy firing at the border, Pakistan on Wednesday summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia, claiming that Indian fire had caused the death of a civilian.
Sputnik

Islamabad has also accused New Delhi of targeting civilians residing along Line of Control (LoC) that separates Indian and Pakistani forces in Kashmir.

"Indian troops along the LoC and Working Boundary have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons, which still continues," said Pakistan's foreign ministry.

Pakistan's foreign ministry also condemned what it described as unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces at the Hot Spring Sector of the LoC on 13 August, warning that the ceasefire violations are a "threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation."        

India has yet to comment on the accusations.

Earlier this month, Pakistan summoned India's top diplomat in Islamabad over ceasefire violations along the LoC. Pakistan also evacuated around 50 Chinese nationals who were working on a dam project along the Neelum and Jhelum rivers due to heavy shelling.

The tension between the two nuclear-armed nations ratcheted up last week after India scrapped the special constitutional status granted to Jammu and Kashmir. The last few days have seen increased military activity, with heavy firing heard along the LoC and increased air force patrols in the region. 

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