Ceasefire violations "coincided" with Nawaz Sharif's US visit: Omar Abdullah

SRINAGAR: The flare-up at the border was apparently an attempt by Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue, as the ceasefire violations "coincided" with premier Nawaz Sharif's visit to the US, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today.

Omar said that as soon as the visit was over the ceasefire has suddenly been restored.

"The flare up coincided when Nawas Sharif was going to the United States. As soon as the visit was over, the ceasefire has suddenly been restored.

"It seems that it apparently was an attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue. When they realised that it has failed, the situation came back to normal," Omar told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

The Chief Minister said it was not possible for him to immediately understand why the recent flare up along the borders in the state took place.

"We are hopeful that the ceasefire along the Line of Control and international border (in Jammu and Kashmir) will hold and peace prevails," Omar said.

He said the situation along the LoC and IB has been mostly calm for the past two days.

He said the incident at Uri, in which a Junior Commissioned Officer was killed, seemed to be a localised incident, which was not as worrisome as the large scale violations that took place along the LOC and international border recently.

"Localised incidents keep on happening. These should not worry us much. We were worried because the violations were taking place along the international border where there were no such incidents in past 10 years," he said.