Pakistan slams fresh Indian shelling in disputed Kashmir

Pakistan has strongly condemned the recent killing of one of its soldiers by Indian forces near the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border that divides Kashmir between Pakistan and India.

“Condemning the incident, Pakistan called on India to restrain its security forces from unprovoked firing and shelling across the LoC (Line of Control) and the working boundary,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani government has summoned an unnamed senior Indian diplomat from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to express its strong condemnation of the shooting, and call on New Delhi to take serious measures to prevent similar incidents, which would not be tolerated if repeated.

On Thursday evening, Pakistan accused Indian forces of launching unprovoked attacks on the Pakistani side of the LoC. The shooting resulted in the death of a Pakistani soldier in the Pandu sector near the city of Muzaffarabad.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the deadly cross-border clashes between Pakistan and India in Kashmir, calling on both sides to resolve the hostility through negotiation.

Islamabad and New Delhi have fought two wars over Kashmir since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The arch-rivals lay claim to the whole region but they only control a section of it.

India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control in 2003, and a year later launched talks aimed at brokering a regional peace.

The process was, however, suspended after over 160 people lost their lives in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.