Pakistan called on India Friday to investigate what it called
repeated violations by Indian soldiers along the de facto border between
the two nations in the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan's Foreign Office
summoned the high commissioner of India, Sharat Sabharwal, to its
offices to protest the killing of one of its soldiers on the Pakistani
side of the border known as the Line of Control.
Foreign Secretary Jalil
Abbas Jilani also demanded that the Indian government investigate recent
clashes between the two countries in the Kashmir region. Jilani's call
came just days after Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai summoned the
Pakistani high commissioner to lodge complaints about the killing of
two of its soldiers in the Kashmir region Tuesday.
India and Pakistan have
traded bitter accusations over allegations of repeated violations of a
cease-fire in recent days at the Line of Control, increasing tensions
between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
It began with a clash
Sunday that, according to the Pakistani military, saw Indian troops
cross the Line of Control and attack a military post. Pakistani army
troops repulsed the attack, but one Pakistani soldier was killed and
another critically injured, Pakistan said.
The Indian Defense
Ministry, however, said Pakistani troops opened fire unprovoked on
Indian posts in the north Uri sector of Indian-administered Kashmir.
Indian troops retaliated and forced Pakistani troops to stop firing, the
ministry said. It did not immediately report the number of casualties.
That was followed
Tuesday with allegations made by India that Pakistani troops took
advantage of thick fog in a wooded area to cross over to its side of the
border.
The Indian military says
one of its routine patrols spotted the Pakistani troops in the Mendhar
sector of Poonch district, and a firefight lasting about 30 minutes
ensued, during which two Indian soldiers were killed.
The Indian government on
Wednesday accused Pakistani troops of subjecting the two soldiers'
bodies to "barbaric and inhuman mutilation," calling the alleged actions
"highly provocative."
Pakistan denied the
accusations, saying India was trying to distract attention from a
weekend clash in the Himalayan territory that left a Pakistani soldier
dead.
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The Pakistani Foreign
Ministry rejected the allegations that its troops had crossed the Line
of Control and killed Indian soldiers.
The two South Asian
neighbors have had a cease-fire along the de facto border since November
2003. But it has been violated repeatedly, with both sides accusing the
other of offenses.
Bilateral talks were
suspended in 2008 after an attack by Pakistani militants in Mumbai,
India's most populous city, killed more than 160 people. The
negotiations have since resumed.
The conflict over
Kashmir dates back to 1947, after Britain relinquished control of the
Indian subcontinent, giving birth to modern India and Pakistan.
Kashmir was free to
accede to either nation. Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the kingdom
at the time, initially chose to remain independent but eventually opted
to join India, thereby handing key powers to the central government in
New Delhi. In exchange, India guaranteed him military protection and
vowed to hold a popular vote on the issue.
The South Asian rivals have fought two full-scale wars over the territorial issue.
Islamabad has always
said that majority-Muslim Kashmir should have been a part of Pakistan. A
United Nations resolution adopted after the first war called for a
referendum allowing the people of Kashmir to choose which country they
wanted to join, but that vote for self-determination has never been
held. Pakistan wants that referendum to take place.
India says that Pakistan
lends support to separatist groups fighting against government control
and argues that a 1972 agreement mandates a resolution to the Kashmir
dispute through bilateral talks.
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