Pakistan lodges protest with India over soldier’s killing in Kashmir
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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Source CNN.com