LoC truce led to sense of peace, says Army chief

Indian and Pak militaries announced on Feb 25 that they had begun observing a ceasefire along LoC A

NEW DELHI: Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane has said that the restoration of ceasefire in February between Indian and Pakistani militaries along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir is holding, has led to a significant drop in infiltration by terrorists from Pakistan and contributed to the overall sense of peace and wellbeing in border areas.

“This is the first step on the long road to normalisation of ties between the two countries. We would like the ceasefire to continue. It has definitely led to an improvement in the security situation and benefited civilians living in forward areas,” Naravane said. In a surprise development, Indian and Pakistani militaries announced on February 25 that they had begun observing a ceasefire along the LoC from the midnight of February 24. India and Pakistan had agreed to a ceasefire on the LoC in November 2003, but it was frequently violated. The army chief said the ceasefire violations by the neighbouring army were aimed at providing cover to infiltrators. No ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army indicated that infiltration attempts were not being supported, Naravane said. “Counterterrorism operations will continue. We have no reason to believe that terror infrastructure along the LoC has been dismantled by the Pakistan army,” Naravane said. Pakistan resorted to the highest ever ceasefire violations during the 12 months preceding the joint announcement of the ceasefire in February. According to government data accessed by HT, the Pakistani army violated ceasefire at least a dozen times on average daily between February 2020 and February 2021.

Peace along the LoC is mutually beneficial, Naravane said. “The population living on either side suffers due to violence along the LoC. I am sure the Pakistan army is also concerned about the population and hopefully the ceasefire will hold,” the army chief said. After February 24, there has been a solitary instance of cross-border firing along the international border in Jammu sector between the Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers. Of the 30 terrorists killed by security forces in Kashmir during the last three months, only one was a foreigner, said officials familiar with the developments. “It’s an indicator that infiltration by Pakistani terrorists has dropped notably. We will have to wait and watch how things unfold as three months is a short window to confirm a pattern,” said one of the officials. The escalation in ceasefire violations coincided with the first anniversary of the Centre’s move in August 2019 to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status that Islamabad reacted sharply to.

This is the first step on the long road to normalisation of ties between the two countries