Ahead of talks, Pakistan troops fire at border post

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Indo-Pak talks, Pakistani troops in an apparent ceasefire violation fired at a border post along the international border inviting counter fire from BSF troops.

The firing, according to reports, came from Pakistan’s Suragpur post on Abdullia border outpost along the international border in R S Pura sub-sector . The BSF retaliated against the Pakistani firing. The cross firing initially lasted for one and half hours but started again after a short break and continued for a couple of hours. Reports also said that there was an explosion triggered by an IED near the border line. The Indian side sees the firing as a violation of the ceasefire. A massive search operation was subsequently launched in the area.

The firing incidentally takes place three days before the home ministers of the two countries are scheduled to meet to discuss a range of issues. Border tension and infiltration has continued to be an area of concern for India and this is set to be taken up in the upcoming, high-level meetings between the two sides.

A similar incident took place on Sunday when Pakistani troops fired at Indian positions at Machhil sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Two porters were killed while two jawans were injured in the firing. India accused Pakistan of violating the ceasefire in the Machhil sector.

The incidents come just ahead of home minister P Chidambaram’s visit to Islamabad for the Saarc home ministers’ meeting. He is also scheduled to hold meetings with his Pakistani counterpart, Rehman Malik. And India is expected to take up the issue of infiltration attempts which have increased in Jammu and Kashmir in the summer months. Ahead of the home ministers’ meeting, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao will meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir. The meetings which are aimed at reducing the trust deficit will include discussions on incidents across the border.

India had stalled the dialogue process after the Mumbai terror attacks in which terrorists had travelled from Pakistan to India to carry out multiple attacks. India has now opened the possibility of resuming a dialogue on all issues . The two meetings will be followed by a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries next month.