International: Amidst deeply strained bilateral relations and escalating tensions, Pakistani military forces have initiated unprovoked firing across eight forward sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. This blatant violation of existing ceasefire agreements has been met with a swift and proportionate response from Indian troops stationed along the de facto border.
This recent surge in hostilities marks the eleventh consecutive night that Pakistani forces have engaged in unprovoked firing incidents along the LoC. This sustained aggression unfolds against a backdrop of heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, ignited by the tragic terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, which resulted in the loss of 26 lives.
According to a defence spokesperson based in Jammu, the unprovoked firing, involving small arms, commenced during the night of May 4 and 5. Pakistani Army posts targeted areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Poonch, Rajouri, Mendhar, Naushera, Sunderbani, and Akhnoor within Jammu and Kashmir. The spokesperson affirmed that the Indian Army responded promptly and with appropriate force to these provocations.
The initiation of firing by Pakistani troops spanned across five border districts. In the Jammu region, the districts of Jammu, Rajouri, and Poonch, situated south of the Pir Panjal ranges, came under fire. Simultaneously, in the Kashmir valley, the districts of Baramulla and Kupwara experienced the onset of these ceasefire violations.
The sequence of events began with unprovoked small arms fire directed at multiple posts along the LoC in the Kupwara and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir. Pakistan rapidly broadened its actions, extending the ceasefire violations to the Poonch sector and subsequently to the Akhnoor sector within the Jammu region. This was followed by similar small arms firing incidents targeting several posts along the LoC in the Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of the Rajouri district. The escalation further continued with the expansion of firing to the Pargwal sector, which lies along the International Border in the Jammu district.
This recent act of ceasefire violation by Pakistan occurred despite a prior communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan on April 29. This hotline conversation took place amidst the ongoing unprovoked firing by Pakistan along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. It is understood that during these exchanges, the Indian side had cautioned their Pakistani counterparts regarding the unwarranted firings.
The current spate of unprovoked firing by Pakistani troops commenced on the night of April 24, merely hours after India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack. Since then, various locations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, starting from the Kashmir valley, have been subjected to these violations.
Adding to the escalating tensions, Pakistan had taken several unilateral actions on April 24, including the closure of its airspace for Indian airlines, the suspension of all trade with India via the Wagah border crossing, and a declaration that any attempt to divert water allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty would be considered an “Act of War.”
These persistent firing exchanges have effectively rendered the February 2021 ceasefire agreement obsolete, with widespread violations reported across numerous sectors along the 740-kilometer-long LoC. The renewed commitment to the 2003 ceasefire agreement, which was reiterated by the DGMOs of both India and Pakistan in February 2021 with the aim of ensuring peace along the de facto border, appears to have been severely undermined by the recent developments.
India shares a total of 3,323 km of border with Pakistan, which is geographically divided into three distinct parts: the International Border (IB), stretching approximately 2,400 km from Gujarat up to the northern banks of the Chenab River in Akhnoor, Jammu; the Line of Control (LoC), spanning 740 km from parts of Jammu to parts of Leh; and the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), covering 110 km and demarcating the Siachen region from NJ 9842 to Indira Col in the north.
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