Uneasy calm along IB

Ranjit Thakur

Jammu, August 23

With Pakistani troops regularly violating ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir after the Centre abrogated Articles 370 and 35A, there is uneasy calm prevailing on the international border (IB).

The Pakistani troops have violated ceasefire over a dozen times along the LoC in Rajouri, Poonch and north Kashmir, but so far the IB remains untouched. There has been only one incident of cross border firing in the Pargwal area. So far, three Indian soldiers have lost their lives, while four other have been injured.

According to a senior Army officer, the IB is calm because Pakistan is concentrating on the LoC to push infiltrators. “The entire focus of the Pakistan army is on Kashmir now and they want to push infiltrators directly into Kashmir to increase the level of violence and attack security forces. Terrain favours it. That is one of the reasons why the IB is calm so far,” the officer said.

Although there has been no cross-border firing along the 198-km-long IB, which mainly passes through the Jammu division, the security forces are on high alert to give a befitting reply in case violation from the enemy.