BSF officer...

According to BSF, officer Prasad was 35 years old and he came from Chapra, Bihar. He is survived by his wife and a fivemonth-old daughter, Vaanya. “We retaliated soon after the incident. We have also lodged a strong protest with the Pak Rangers,” said Inspector general of the BSF Jammu Frontier, NS Jamwal.

An intelligence official based in Jammu, asking not to be named, said the sniper fire took place near Pansar border outpost in Hiranagar sector where undulating terrain and thick growth of Sarkanda plant cover provide sufficient cover for Pakistani gunmen.

Pakistani forces also opened heavy fire on Indian posts and forward villages in the Sunderbani sector, in Rajouri district.

At 2,936, the year 2018 recorded the highest number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops in the past 15 years along the Indo-pakistan border.

The attacks come even as the Pakistani establishment signalled it was open to peace talks, though people in the Indian defence establishment – army chief Bipin Rawat being the most recent – have seen such attempts as being hollow.

On January 8, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in an interview to Turkish news agency TRT World, accused India of not responding to his peace overtures and said that any war between two nuclear-armed nations would be suicidal for both.

Last week, army chief Rawat said there has been little change in the Pakistani military’s approach. “Pakistan has been making a lot of noise about better relations with India but on the