ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Sunday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to lodge protest against the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.

A foreign ministry statement said the acting director general South Asia summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces in Kotli/Nikial sectors on October 14 resulting in the death of two children – eight years old Saad, resident of Kainat Dherri village and 14 years old Humayun, resident of Balakot village - and injuries to four others, including three children.

The statement said despite calls for restraint, India continued to indulge in ceasefire violations.

“In 2017 to date, Indian forces have carried out more than 1,100 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary, resulting in the deaths of 47 innocent civilians and injuries to 159, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations in 2016,” it said.

The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws.

The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, the statement said. The acting director general asked the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC.

He urged that the Indian side should permit the UN observers to play their mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

Complete shutdown in Pulwama, Shopian

APP adds: Complete shutdown was observed in Pulwama and Shopian districts of Indian-occupied Kashmir on Sunday against the killing of three youth by Indian troops.

According to Kashmir Media Service, all shops and business establishments remained closed while traffic was off the roads.

Normal life was paralysed in Uri, Lagama and Boniyar areas of Baramulla district due to strike against the incidents of braid chopping.

Meanwhile, All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Gilani, in a statement in Srinagar said that instead of ensuring safety, the authorities had conceived their devilish tricks like operation ‘Catch and Kill’, Operation Ghost and now braid chopping to break the Kashmiris’ resolve for freedom.

He hoped that the people would defeat all the nefarious designs with unity and discipline.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference while commenting on a recent statement of Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that India should realize the fact that it had been illegally occupying Jammu and Kashmir. Rajnath’s statement was an acknowledgment that Jammu and Kashmir was not part of India, it added.