Jammu

India and Pakistan are scheduled to hold a flag meeting on Friday on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district to address the rising incidents of ceasefire violations.

The flag meeting will be attended by Brigadier-level officers from both sides at the Chakan Da Bagh LoC crossing point in the district.

India and Pakistan armies announced a ceasefire in 2021. This ceasefire agreement led to a significant reduction in tensions along the LoC and allowed a degree of normalcy to return to the hundreds of families living on both sides of the border.

However, recent incidents of firing across the LoC have resulted in injuries to two soldiers in Poonch and Rajouri districts.

On 11 February, two soldiers, including a captain, were killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in the Akhnoor sector of the LoC in Jammu district. Officials stated that the IED had been planted by terrorists.

The Indian Army had retaliated to cross-LoC firing in Poonch district. Reports indicated that Indian retaliation caused casualties on the Pakistan side of the LoC. Intelligence reports suggested that, due to minimal snowfall this winter, traditional infiltration routes in J&K remain open, with terrorists attempting to infiltrate the Indian side of the LoC.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired two security review meetings on J&K. During these meetings, he issued orders to the security forces to ensure zero infiltration and maintain zero tolerance for terrorists.

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha also chaired two security meetings recently, one in Srinagar and the other in Jammu. The Lt Governor directed the police and security forces to dismantle the terror ecosystem by targeting terrorists, their over-ground workers (OGWs), and sympathisers.

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Terrorists have been attempting to ramp up their activities following the peaceful and people-participative Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections in the union territory last year.

In response to the surge in terrorist activities, the security forces have launched aggressive operations against the terrorists.