Indian premier criticises Sharif over LoC firing

Published October 25, 2013
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) meets with premier Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 29, 2013. — File photo
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (R) meets with premier Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 29, 2013. — File photo

NEW DELHI: With both sides accusing each other of indiscriminately firing across the Line of Control (LoC) and more recently over the international border in Jammu, it is anybody’s guess as to what exactly is going on there and why.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lent full support to India’s claim on Thursday, as he accused Pakistan of breaking the 2003 ceasefire pact and blamed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for not reining in his men.

“Even at this late hour,” he advised Mr Sharif in response to an Indian reporter’s question on his journey back from China, what was happening on the LoC and international border is not good for the two nations.

“Let me say I am disappointed because in the New York meeting (between them last month) there was a general agreement on both the sides that peace and tranquillity should be maintained on the border, LoC as well as IB and it has not happened. It has come to me as a big disappointment,” Mr Singh told a mid-air news conference.

“We had agreed at that time that if the ceasefire of 2003 has held ground for 10 years, then it could be made to hold later on also. That it has not happened is something which is really a disappointment,” he said when asked whether he was disappointed with Mr Sharif.

He said even at this late hour he sincerely hoped that Mr Sharif would recognise that this development “is not good for either of the two countries”.

The prime minister’s concerns come against the backdrop of alleged heavy firing by Pakistani troops along the LoC and also along the IB, news reports said. Reports spoke of the loss of lives of two BSF personnel in the last one week and the continuing ceasefire violations in the past three weeks even after the New York meeting.

Over the New York meeting on the margins of the UNGA, Mr Singh had come under attack from India’s rightwing Hindu parties for engaging in “futile talks” with Pakistan.

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