Pakistani Rangers break ceasefire, fire on BSF troops along International Border in Jammu

The firing on Tuesday is the first-ever ceasefire violation incident along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir since both India and Pakistan had renewed their pledge to maintain ceasefire in February 2021.

There have, however, been infiltration attempts by militants and also incidents of weapons being dropped via drones from across the border from time to time.

In February 2021, director generals of military operations of both India and Pakistan had agreed to observe ceasefire from the midnight of February 24-25 in the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace along the borders. The agreement had come following discussion between two sides on the hotline.

Later Tuesday, both sides held a flag meeting along the border and “agreed to exercise maximum restraint”.

“A coy (company) commander level flag meeting was held between BSF and Pak Rangers at 1.45 pm on the border in which the issue of unprovoked firing was discussed,” a BSF spokesperson said, adding that, “both sides agreed to respect the existing norms in future”. The meeting ended in a cordial atmosphere, the spokesperson added.