Pakistani Foreign Minister rejects Indian claim for killing of two Army jawans

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday summarily rejected India’s claim that the Pakistan Army was responsible for the killing of two Indian Army jawans on the Indian side of the LoC.

The Foreign Minister while talking to Indian news channel said that the Pakistan government is appalled at the suggestion that Pakistan troops were involved in the incident and stressed that her country respects the ceasefire that is in force since 2003.

“The government has already given its response. We are appalled at some of the statements coming from India,” she told the news channel, adding that the matter has left her a bit saddened.
“We want to respect the ceasefire of 2003; this is absolutely unacceptable for such allegations to be made. We have investigated the matter and we are sure that such an incident did not take place,” she added.
The Foreign Minister said, “We need to grow up and think. It is not Pakistan’s policy to do so (kill Indian soldiers on LoC) and that did not happen.”
She further said that Pakistan is open to any third party investigation into the matter.
She said, “We are so sure of this that we can go and ask a third party to do an investigation. UN observers can come in and probe the entire matter.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan on Wednesday strongly rejected the Indian allegation as “baseless and unfounded” of an attack on its military patrol, across the Line of Control (LoC). India had claimed that two Indian soldiers were killed in the attack.

A statement from the Foreign Office said that Pakistan was prepared to investigate the recent ceasefire violations on the Line of Control through the United Nations Military Observes Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

“Pakistan remains committed to the ceasefire agreement of 2003, which is an important confidence building measure and should be respected in letter and spirit,” the statement said.
Pakistan urged the need for abiding and strengthening existing military mechanism to ensure that there was no recurrence of such violations in future.
The statement said that Pakistan was committed to a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India.
“We have made significant progress in the dialogue process.  Pakistan has taken a number of steps to normalize and improve bilateral relations. It is important that both sides make serious efforts in maintaining this improvement and avoid negative propaganda,” the Foreign Office said.