This photograph taken from a Pakistani army site shows an overview of the Bandla Valley in the Bhimber district, near the Line of Control (LoC), in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Issam Ahmed | AFP | Getty Images
India and Pakistan issued a joint statement saying the two sides have agreed to stop firing along their disputed border in Kashmir as of Thursday.
The directors-general of military operations of the two countries held talks where they reviewed 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”. according to the statement released by India.
Frequent clashes and cross-border bombing along the line of control in recent months reported that several civilians were killed.
“With the goal of achieving a mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders, the two (CEOs) agreed to address the basic problems and concerns of others who are prone to disrupt peace and lead to violence.” , is said in the statement. He added that both sides will use existing mechanisms, including a hotline to resolve tensions and misunderstandings.
Kashmir has always been a controversial issue for the two rivals with nuclear weapons. Both Pakistan and India claim the entire area, but control only parts of it.
They have waged multiple wars in the mountainous region. In 2019, tensions escalated when the two countries carried out retaliatory airstrikes against each other, prompting concern over a war erupting in South Asia.
Since then, India stripped the state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special status that allowed it to draft its own laws and turned the state into the territories of the union of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Pakistan criticized the measure.
This week, Indian media reported that Pakistani Prime Minister 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, where it said Pakistan has “one of the worst human rights records in the world” and should “put the his own house in order, before he dared to point a finger at India. “