External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup on Thursday said Pakistan had violated the ceasefire agreement of 2003 with India 12 times between November 5 and 12. He said militants tried to cross over from the Pakistan side of the Line of Control 18 times in the past week.
On November 4, an Indian Army official had accused Pakistan of violating the ceasefire agreement 99 times since the surgical strikes on September 29. India has held that there has been an increase in ceasefire violations after it carried out its surgical strikes on “terror launchpads”. Officials reported breaches on October 3, 4 and 5 along the border in the region. On September 18, militants had attacked an Indian Army installation in Uri, killing 19 soldiers. India had accused Pakistan of being involved in the attack, but Islamabad had dismissed the allegations as “baseless”.
The two countries have also been involved in a diplomatic row, with each accusing the other’s foreign officials of spying for their governments. On October 27, India had declared Pakistani High Commission official Mehmood Akhtar “persona non grata”. Eight Indian High Commission officials then left Pakistan following charges of indulging in “subversive activities”.
Swarup on Thursday told ANI that Delhi has yet to receive an official confirmation from Islamabad about Pakistan’s participation in the Heart of Asia conference. The event will be held in Amritsar on December 3. Advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday said he would visit India for the conference, and hinted that his visit could be used to “defuse the tension” between the neighbours, which have escalated since the militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri in September.
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