Pakistan, India agree to restore ceasefire on LoC, Working Boundary in top military talks

RAWALPINDI - In a bid to lowering tension at the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary (WB), the top military officers of Pakistan and India held hotline contact and agreed to restore ceasefire on the borders.

The special hotline contact was initiated by Pakistan and held between Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Lt Gen Anil Chauhan on Tuesday after a month.

The unprecedented thing, surfaced after the high level talks, was that both sides issued almost identical statements, without accusing each other of violations.

The rare deal would end Indian hostilities along the borders as its forces last year committed 1,881 ceasefire violations — the highest number of breaches since the 2003 ceasefire understanding – leaving 87 martyred, including soldiers, civilians.

In first five months of the running year, India breached ceasefire for 1,050 times in which 28 civilians lost their lives. However, a detail regarding the figure of martyred soldiers was not issued by the military.

A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations said, “Both DGs MO reviewed the prevailing situation along the line of control and working boundary and mutually agreed to undertake sincere measures to improve the existing situation ensuring peace and avoidance of hardships to the civilians along the borders”.

A similar phrased statement issued by Pakistan, India armies said, “Both DGs MO agreed to fully implement the ceasefire understanding of 2003 in letter and spirit forthwith and to ensure that henceforth the ceasefire will not be violated by both sides".

“Both DGs MO also agreed that in case of any issue, restraint will be exercised and the matter will be resolved through utilisation of existing mechanisms of hotline contacts and border flag meetings at local commander's level,” the ISPR said.

The India's statement also carried the similar phrasing to ISPR’s statement, saying if there's any issue it will be resolved through existing mechanisms of hotline contacts and border flag meetings by commanders on the ground.

Indian troops had moreover been targeting civilians by using heavy weapons and for this purpose, they had employed artillery, heavy mortars, missiles, rockets and heavy automatics.