RAWALPINDI: Reacting to recent statement by Indian military leadership accusing the Pakistani army of supporting terrorism, army chief Ashfaq Pervez Kayani on Friday termed the allegations as “unfortunate, unfounded and provocative.”
Speaking to a group of military officers at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said Pakistan was also concerned about the continued Indian violations at the Line of Control (LoC), the heavily militarized border dividing Kashmir between the two countries.
According to a press release issued by the military’s public relations wing, Kayani said the ceasefire at the Kashmir border was proposed by Pakistan and agreed upon by both countries in 2003.
He said that “rather than hurling such baseless accusations, India would be well advised to respond positively to Pakistan's suggestion for holding joint or impartial investigation into the LoC incidents, preferably by the United Nations.”
The Pakistan army, he said, was exercising restraint but the same should in no way be used as a pretext for “leveling such baseless allegations that vitiate prospects of regional peace.”
The “Pakistan army is fully supportive of the peace process initiated by the government,” the statement quoted him as saying.
Pakistan and India regularly accuse each other of violating the ceasefire agreement at the volatile Kashmir border.
Earlier on Friday, Pakistani officials said a child was killed and three people wounded after Indian troops fired mortars across the disputed border.
There has a recent uptick in reported clashes and cross-border firing incidents from both sides of the LoC
The latest incident came almost two weeks after the prime ministers of the two countries pledged to restore calm on their disputed border in Kashmir, at a meeting in New York.
A deadly flare-up along the LoC in January brought a halt to peace talks that had only just resumed following a three-year hiatus sparked by the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
Fresh skirmishes erupted on the LoC after five Indian soldiers were killed in a raid in August.
Delhi blamed that ambush on the Pakistan army, but Islamabad denied the claims and has repeatedly called for restraint and dialogue.
