Pak summons senior Indian diplomat
Islamabad: Pakistan Monday summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh and condemned the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by Indian troops across the Line of Control which resulted in the death of a civilian.
Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned Singh and “condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control,” the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.
The firing in the Bagsar Sector along the LoC resulted in the death of a civilian and injured a woman, it said.
Faisal said that the Indian forces along the LoC and the Working boundary are “continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons.”
“This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violation,” it alleged.
“The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” the statement said.
Faisal urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
The Pakistan Army confirmed the killing of a civilian and said the Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing targeting the civilian population.
It said Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to those posts targeting civil population.
He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
India maintains that UNMOGIP has outlived its utility and is irrelevant after the Simla Agreement and the consequent establishment of the LoC. (PTI)
Cold wave conditions revisit Kashmir, bright sunshine greets Jammu
Srinagar/Jammu: Normal life was affected in the Valley Monday as cold wave tightened its grip, coating many roads in Kashmir and Ladakh region with a thick layer of glistening frost, but the sun shone bright in Jammu.
Pahalgam was the coldest recorded place in Jammu and Kashmir at minus 12.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday night.
The minimum temperature plummeted across the Valley on Sunday night, resulting in frozen water bodies and water supply lines at many places, MeT Department officials said.
Owing to a clear night sky and a drop in the minimum temperature, a thick layer of frost had developed on many roads across the Valley because of Friday’s snowfall, resulting in inconvenience to the residents due of slippery roads, the officials said.
In Srinagar, the minimum temperature settled at minus 4 degrees Celsius on Sunday night followed by 5.3 degrees Celsius in Qazigund.
The nearby Kokernag registered a low of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, Kupwara town in north Kashmir settled at minus 5.9 degrees Celsius, ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded minus 11 degrees Celsius while Leh and Kargil region settled at minus 1.5 degrees Celsius and minus 4 degrees celsius respectively.
In Jammu, it was a sunny morning on Monday which provided relief from the biting cold weather conditions that prevailed on Sunday night.
The night temperature on Sunday was 5.6 degrees Celsius — a drop of nearly 3 degrees Celsius from Saturday, an official of the Meteorological (MeT) department.
The bright sun appeared on Monday morning providing respite to the people from the biting cold. Despite the cloud cover, the day temperature in the city registered an increase on Sunday and settled at 14.4 degrees Celsius.
The maximum temperature on Saturday was 15.6 degrees Celsius.
Cloud cover led to the increase in the night temperature in Jammu, the weatherman said.
The MeT department has predicted that the sky will generally be cloudy and the maximum and minimum temperature will be around 16 and 8 degrees Celsius, respectively, in Jammu, while the weather will remain dry in Kashmir till January 10.
Press Trust of India
