NEW DELHI, April 30. /TASS/. The Pakistani military has once again opened fire along the Line of Control in several districts of India’s Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said.
TASS has gathered the key information about the current developments.
Border tensions
- Pakistani Army posts "initiated unprovoked small-arms fire" across the Line of Control opposite the Naushera, Sunderbani and Akhnoor sectors in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army said.
- According to the army, Indian troops "responded swiftly and proportionately."
- India’s ANI news agency also reported ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
- According to the media outlet, Pakistan opened fire along the international border in the Paragwal sector.
Causes of tensions
- Reports of ceasefire violations along the India-Pakistan border have been coming in for a week amid tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad caused by a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 people died.
- On April 22, a terrorist attack took place in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, killing 25 Indians and one Nepalese national.
- According to media reports, Indian intelligence agencies allegedly found evidence that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was involved in the terrorist attack committed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba group (outlawed in Russia).
- After the attack, India almost halved its embassy staff in Pakistan, suspended an agreement with Islamabad on the allocation of water resources, declared the military advisors of the Pakistani diplomatic mission in India personae non gratae, and also suspended the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens.
- The Pakistani Security Council said it was suspending all bilateral agreements with India, and promised to consider any attempt by India to divert the water flow from the Indus River as an act of war. Islamabad also closed its airspace to Indian airlines and closed the Wagah checkpoint on the border with India. In addition, Pakistan declared Indian defense, naval and aviation advisors personae non gratae. According to a statement by the Pakistani Security Council, it has evidence of India sponsoring terrorist groups active in the country.
- On April 29, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level security meeting. According to sources, he stated that the Indian armed forces had "complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets and timing" of the country’s response to the Pahalgam attack.
- Pakistani Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said that India planned "to carry out military action" against Pakistan within the next 24 to 36 hours. \
UN chief’s response
- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres held telephone calls with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, offering mediation services to de-escalate the conflict between the two countries.