By Muhammad Akbar Notezai
The two countries struggle to make diplomatic progress amid ongoing clashes.
July was a busy month for India-Pakistan relations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Ufa, Russia, with the two agreeing that their respective national security advisors would meet to discuss ways to combat terrorism.
But just a week or so after this diplomacy, the two countries once again exchanged gunfire across their disputed frontier in Kashmir. According to reports, a heavy exchange between the Indian and Pakistani troopers took place along the line of control (LoC) in Jammu’s Poonch district. As usual, each side blamed the other for the incident. An unnamed Indian defense spokesman was reported as accusing Pakistani troops of opening fire on several posts along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir. He was quoted as saying that Indian forces responded with their own barrage to the “unprovoked firing” by Pakistani forces. In contrast, Pakistani officials had earlier said in a statement that Indian troops used heavy weapons on July 18, when Muslims were celebrating the Eid-ul-Fitr (marking the end of the holy month of Ramazan), to pound Nezapir in Kashmir.
Over the past week more clashes were reported, including one in which an Indian soldier was reportedly killed by a Pakistani sniper. It was in fact the third sniper attack this month, and the 18th ceasefire violation in a month that has four people killed and 14 wounded. The exchanges have continued into this weekend.
Meanwhile, a single attack in Gurdaspur, Punjab on Monday left seven dead. India has blamed Pakistani terrorists for the attack, an accusation Pakistan has vehemently denied.
The incidents have raised concerns that the planned meeting of the national security advisors would be derailed, although for now, the talks – tentatively scheduled for late August – look to be going ahead.
Read the full story at The Diplomat