Kashmir rivals agree end to shelling

Pakistan and India have agreed to stop trading fire, including artillery and small weapons, along the highly militarised frontier in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir and uphold a cease-fire accord dating back 15 years.

After months of routine skirmishes that have killed dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides, the situation was calm yesterday.

Pakistan’s military said late on Wednesday that local generals reached the understanding using a special hotline set up to defuse tensions in Kashmir, which is split between Indian and Pakistani zones of control.

Both nuclear-armed powers claim Kashmir in its entirety, and the territorial dispute has ignited two wars between Pakistan and India since they gained independence in 1947.

Both sides ‘‘agreed to undertake sincere measures to improve the existing situation, ensuring peace and avoidance of hardships to the civilians along the borders,’’ the Pakistani military said in a statement.

It said that if future violence occurs in the disputed region, ‘‘restraint will be exercised and the matter will be resolved through use of existing mechanisms of hotline contacts and border flag meetings at local level’’.

The Indian army confirmed the agreement and issued the same statement. The two sides also agreed to fully implement a 2003 ceasefire that has been repeatedly violated.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks, as both sides have shelled border posts and villages and used automatic fire along the highly militarised frontier. commander’s

Each side has accused the other of starting the hostilities in violation of the 2003 accord. This year, the situation worsened as the rivals also fired artillery shells at each other’s positions.

The soldiers from the two sides have engaged in fierce border skirmishes along the rugged and mountainous Line of Control which divides Kashmir territory between the two nations, as well as a lower-altitude 200km boundary separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab, where most of the latest fighting occurred.

On the Indian side, the fighting has driven people from villages along the border, and government buildings have been converted into temporary shelters.

Houses have been damaged, and dozens of schools in villages along the frontier have been closed. -AP