Calm returns to India-Pakistan border

cde.news desk 3 March 2019, 17:00 · 1 min read

epa03528614 (FILE) A file picture dated 21 October 2008 shows a Pakistani flag over the Pakistani side of Kashmir as Pakistan and India open trade route between the Line of Control (LOC) which serves as de-facto border between the India and Pakistani-administered zones, at Kaman Bridge near Chakothi in Pakistani Kashmir. The Pakistan Army on 09 January 2013 denied India?s allegations that its soldiers killed two Indian troops after crossing Kashmir's de-facto border. Pakistan alleged that Indian troops raided one of its outposts on 05 January 2013 in the Haji Pir sector and injured two Pakistani soldiers, one of whom died. Skirmishes have been reported off and on since the two South Asian arch-rivals agreed on a ceasefire in Kashmir in late 2003, but the latest incidents occurred amid a thaw in relations. EPA/NASIRUDDING MUGHAL

Reuters reported that India and Pakistan seem to have wound down the hostilities that brought the two nuclear powers to the brink of another war.

At the same time Indian security forces started a massive crackdown on militant groups in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region.

In Indian-ruled Kashmir, troops on Sunday shot dead two militants after a three-day gun battle that also killed five security force personnel, taking the total death toll to 25 in the past two weeks.

Both the Indian and the Pakistani armies on Sunday reported relative calm in the past 24 hours along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

In the past few days there was exchange of fire that killed seven people on the Pakistani side and four on the Indian side, though the release of a downed Indian fighter pilot by Pakistan on Friday night has helped de-escalate tensions.

Via Reuters

Topics India Pakistan