India’s Director General of Military Operations Lieutenant General Anil Chouhan and his Pakistani counterpart spoke with each other and set up a special hotline, the Pakistan Army said on Tuesday.
The military leaders agreed to implement measures to improve the existing situation to ensure peace along the Line of Control and the working boundary, the Pakistan Army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations said in a statement. The DGMOs agreed to implement the ceasefire understanding of 2003 “in letter and spirit”, and ensure that the agreement is not violated now on.
The two sides agreed to exercise restraint in case of any conflict, and resolve the matter using existing mechanisms of hotline contacts and border flag meetings at the level of local commanders.
Scores have been killed in alleged cross-border firing by Pakistan since January. At least 13 civilians sustained injuries on May 22 after Pakistani troops reportedly initiated firing and shelling along the International Border in Jammu. The following day, the Ministry of External Affairs summoned Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah to lodge a protest over the death of a seven-month-old baby in alleged cross-border firing by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in Sherpalai.
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