New Delhi, November 27
For the second consecutive day, the ceasefire between Indian and Pakistani forces along the 1,126-km long border in Jammu and Kashmir was holding with no major flare-up reported from anywhere.The Army said frequency of contacts at Directors-General of Military Operations (DGMOs) would be increased “if and when required”.
“There has been no major flare-up on the Jammu and Kashmir border comprising 198-km
stretch of international border, 778-km of Line of Control and 110-km of actual ground position Line (AGPL) in Siachen”, an Army spokesman said.
“As of now, there is no move to increase the interaction between the two DGMOs,” the spokesman said in reply to queries adding that there could be increased contacts in case of doubts or misunderstandings.
He ruled out any move to hold flag meetings of sector commanders as part of evolving a ceasefire monitoring mechanism.
The Directors-General of Military Operations hold discussions over the hotline on weekly basis and it was through this mechanism that New Delhi and Islamabad announced a mutual ceasefire along the border in Jammu and Kashmir.
Army officials said in discussions between the DGMOs, the issue of infiltration had also figured, but he did not elaborate.
With lull in the shelling, the Army is reportedly planning to speed up work on the construction of the nearly 198-km border fencing along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir as also along 530-km vulnerable stretch along the Line of Control.
The fencing along the international
bolder except for some key stretches near Samba and Ranbir Singh Pura facing Sialkot district of Pakistan is almost nearing completion. But a lot of work still has to be done on the fencing along the LoC.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday hailed the second day of an historic ceasefire with India along the Line of Control, international border and Siachen as “a good beginning”.
“It’s a positive development and a good beginning because both sides have agreed to the ceasefire,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said of the first-ever full ceasefire, which he said was “holding on both sides” since it began at midnight Tuesday.
“In any case there are no incursions during the winter season, the activity goes down,” the spokesman said.
“We’re saying crossings have gone down drastically since last year.”
Mr Khan said the next step in the peace process was talks on reviving airlinks, slated for December 1 and 2 in New Delhi. —
PTI, AFP
