Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over ceasefire violations

Islamabad : Pakistan on Wednesday summoned a senior Indian diplomat over cross-border shelling which it said killed a civilian along the Line of Control (LoC) in the divided Kashmir region, officials said.

The Foreign Ministry said the Indian forces resorted to "unprovoked ceasefire violations" in the Kotkotera sector along the LoC on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal, who heads the desk of South Asia and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in the Ministry, summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner and condemned the "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by the Indian forces.

Pakistan and India had declared a ceasefire in 2003 along the LoC but both sides routinely accuse each other of violations.

Faisal told the Indian diplomat that the "deliberate targeting of civilian population areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws.

"The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation."