India, Pakistan Hold First Flag Meeting After Recent Border Firing

Mangalore Today News Network

Jammu, Aug 27, 2014:  India and Pakistan today held a flag meeting for the first time since multiple ceasefire violations in the last couple of weeks has ratcheted tensions along the border.

The meeting was held between the Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers at the Pargwal area in Jammu. The agenda of the meeting, which reportedly took place on the request of the Rangers, is not clear though.

Today’s meeting comes just a day after senior military commanders from both sides met to discuss steps to restore calm.

India claims that in the last two weeks, Pakistan has violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control or de-facto border more than 20 times. In fact, the continuous firing from Pakistan over the last fortnight is "the heaviest cross-border firing I’ve seen since the 1971 war," said DK Pathak, the chief of the Border Security Force to NDTV on Tuesday.

Tension between Pakistan and India has rocketed over the last few weeks; New Delhi has called off talks in Islamabad after Pakistan decided to consult Kashmiri separatists before the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries were to hold a summit.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kashmir and accused Pakistan of using militants to conduct "a proxy war" against India. Pakistan denounced the charges as "baseless" and said India should steer clear of "a blame game."

 

Courtesy: NDTV