Border security force soldiers patrol the India-Pakistan border in Kanachak, 15 kilometers west of Jammu, India. (File photo)
Pakistan has once again denied India’s allegations with regards to the killing of two Indian soldiers during a recent border attack in Kashmir.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that India’s claim is propaganda to divert attention from the attack by Indian troops, which killed one Pakistani soldier on Sunday.
“Pakistan is prepared to hold investigations through the United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan on the recent cease-fire violations on the Line of Control,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry added.
Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 60 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.
Despite a 2003 cease-fire along the Line of Control, the area still witnesses violence by both sides.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar also said Wednesday that Islamabad is appalled at the statements made by India, noting that they could ask the United Nations observers to do investigation on the matter.
The comments come as India has summoned Pakistan’s envoy to New Delhi to protest to the killing of two Indian soldiers.
Two Indian soldiers were killed when a battle broke out in Kashmir on Tuesday. According to military sources, an Indian patrol was ambushed by Pakistani soldiers in southern Kashmir’s Mendhar sector, 173 kilometers (107 miles) west of Jammu.
Indian authorities say the body of one of the soldiers was “badly mutilated.”
The Tuesday border clashes came after Pakistan said one of its forces had been killed in the area.
On January 6, Islamabad said Indian troops had crossed the de facto border in Kashmir called the Line of Control, storming a military checkpoint. Pakistani officials added that one soldier had been killed and another injured.
TNP/SZH/SS
