India lodges strong protest with Pakistan over killing of civilian along LoC

A person familiar with the matter said India’s protest was conveyed via email to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

On the border, Pakistan kept up its unprovoked firing in violation of a 2003 pact, an army spokesman said. This took place along the de facto line of control frontier in Baramulla district of Kashmir and three Indian soldiers were injured in the firing, the spokesman said. Indian troops have responded in a “befitting" manner, the army spokesman said.

Indian government officials have pointed out in recent weeks that despite the world grappling with the novel coronavirus challenge, Pakistan has not let up on its hostile activities vis a vis India. Unprovoked firing has continued unabated as have efforts from the Pakistani side to push in terrorists to stoke unrest in Kashmir, one of the officials cited above. Indian army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane had in a visit to Kashmir last month told reporters that there was no let up in Pakistan’s efforts to infiltrate terrorists into India.

Ties, that have always been uneasy between the two countries, turned tense after the 14 February 2019 terrorist attack in Pulwama in which 40 Indian paramilitary troops were killed. India bombed a terrorist training camp in Pakistan last year in February.

Ties nosedived once again after India revoked the special status granted to Kashmir under article 370 of its constitution in August and integrated the region more closely with India. Pakistan demanded the immediate restoration of the status with India on its part saying that it made no difference to India’s current external boundaries.