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Pakistan and India have agreed to immediately cease military hostilities along Line of Control in disputed Kashmir by restoring a 2003 truce to deescalate tensions between the South Asian neighbours.
The two nations said in a joint statement Thursday that their top military commanders spoke “over the established mechanism of hotline contact” and reviewed in a “free, frank and cordial atmosphere” the situation along the Line of Control .
“Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the LOC and all other sectors, with effect from midnight 24/25 February 2021,” according to the statement issued by ISPR, the media wing of Pakistan armed forces.
It added that in “the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable” peace, the two sides “agreed to address each other’s core issues/concerns, which have propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence.” It did not elaborate further.
The Directors- General of Military Operation of India and Pakistan in their conversation reiterated the need to utilize existing bilateral arrangements, including meetings between their border security officials, to resolve “any unforeseen situation or misunderstanding.”
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has hailed the understanding as an “important step” for promoting regional peace.
“It can be a good beginning, but India will have to sincerely implement the arrangement,” Qureshi said.
The two countries agreed to the 2003 Kashmir cease-fire amid international concerns continued hostilities could accidentally escalate into a nuclear exchange.
Routine border military skirmishes in recent years have rendered the truce almost ineffective, though, with both sides accusing the other of committing violations.
Bilateral tensions have escalated dangerously since August 2019, when India unilaterally revoked the semi-autonomous status of the Occupied Kashmir and split the region into two union territories.
The move was accompanied by months long security and communications clampdowns by Indian security forces in the majority-Muslim region .
Pakistan condemned the moves as a violation of a decades-old United Nations Security Council resolution that acknowledges Kashmir as a disputed territory.
