SOURCE: Hindustan Times
Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday that leadership of India and Pakistan should rise above their political compulsions. She was reacting to shelling at the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday in which eight Pakistani soldiers were killed.
“Sad to see mounting casualties on both sides of LoC. If only Indian & Pakistani leadership could rise above their political compulsions & initiate dialogue. Restoring the ceasefire agreed upon & implemented by Vajpayee ji & Musharaf sahab is a good place to start,” the PDP?chief said on Twitter.
On Friday, eight Pakistani soldiers were killed and 12 others were injured after the Indian Army targeted Pakistani positions across the LoC in north Kashmir in response to the heavy shelling by the neighbouring army in which eight Indians – four civilians and four security personnel – died, people familiar with the development said.
Sad to see mounting casualties on both sides of LOC. If only Indian & Pakistani leadership could rise above their political compulsions & initiate dialogue. Restoring the ceasefire agreed upon & implemented by Vajpayee ji & Musharaf sahab is a good place to start
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 14, 2020
The Indian Army destroyed Pakistani ammunition dumps, fuel dumps and terror launch pads, they added.
The casualties from the Pakistani side included two commandos belonging to the Special Service Group (SSG), they said.
Friday’s altercation at the LoC comes at a time when India is already in a border dispute with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. Though a disengagement plan is being discussed between the two countries, no crucial progress has been made till now.
Mufti had on Tuesday asked the Centre to hold dialogue with Pakistan in a bid to bring border skirmishes to an end and restore peace.
“If you can talk to China, why can’t you talk to Pakistan? We have been pleading with China to give us our land back but they are not budging from their stand. Why can’t we talk to Pakistan?” she said
Mufti also said that militancy is on the rise in Kashmir, adding that a dialogue was required with Pakistan and stakeholders in the Kashmir valley to restore peace.
