Nawaz Sharif convenes special meeting to discuss LoC tension

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has summoned an important meeting on Thursday to discuss the fast growing tension with neighbouring India over exchange of firing along the Line of Control, which divides the two countries in the disputed Kashmir region. 

The Indian defence officials say that Pakistani troops attacked an Indian post along the LoC in  Poonch sector in the disputed Kashmir region late Monday night, killing five Indian soldiers.  

Pakistan military says that Indian troops fired on a post on Wednesday and critically injured two soldiers. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who returned from a private visit to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, has convened the emergency meeting at the Foreign Ministry, officials said.

The meeting will discuss “the situation arising out of recent tension at the Line of Control” and the foreign policy and external challenges faced by the country.

Tensions between Pakistan and India escalated at a time when the new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has started efforts to revive the stalled dialogue process with India. 

Mr Sharif is slated to meet his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next month.

Despite tension, the Indian ruling Congress party announced on Wednesday that the Singh’s meeting with Sharif will not be cancelled.

Indian opposition has mounted pressure on the government to review its policy of normalizing relations following the killing of five Indian soldiers.

Nearly two hundreds youth of the ruling Congress party tried to storm the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi to protest the alleged killings of the India soldiers.

Nearly 200 members climbed police barricades and raised anti-Pakistan slogans, Indian media quoted the Delhi police as saying.

Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat on Wednesday and expressed concerns at the demonstration in front of its diplomatic mission and called for security.

Top military commanders of Pakistan and India on Wednesday spoke on hotline to reduce tensions along the Line of Control (LoC) to reduce the tension.

The Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries established contact a day after Indian and Pakistan militaries accused each other of violation of a 2003 ceasefire by resorting to firing on posts.

Guns had been relatively silenced since then however border troops some time trade fire. Both sides routinely accuse each other of violations.

The LoC escalations started in January this year when skirmishes between armies of two nuclear neighbors claimed lives of five troopers, two from India and three from Pakistan.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Aug 8 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.