After 9 days of firing, all’s quiet on western front

No incident of firing has been reported from across the border with Pakistan in J-K since Thursday evening, said BSF sources. The sources added that they believed Pakistan was forced to stop firing due to a strong response from India.

No incident of firing has been reported from across the border with Pakistan in J&K since Thursday evening, said BSF sources. The sources added that they believed Pakistan was forced to stop firing due to a strong response from India.

“We only retaliated when fired at. On Thursday evening, about 8pm, they fired some shots at our two posts in Hiranagar and after our reply, they have not fired. There is peace along borders,” BSF inspector general (Jammu frontier) told HT.

“Pakistan is not able to digest the response. It was simply not prepared for it,” said a senior BSF official, not wishing to be quoted. About 30,000 people in Jammu area have been forced to leave their homes along the 192-km International Border since the firing started over a week ago.

In Delhi on Friday, India called for Pakistan to either escalate or de-escalate the situation along the border. Asked about Pakistan’s allegation that India was the first to violate the ceasefire, external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said a country which “harboured Osama bin Laden in a garrison town” for over a decade while telling their western partners they were supporting the global war on terrorism should not raise “baseless allegations.”

The new Indian government was serious about bilateral dialogue in a peaceful atmosphere, said Akbaruddin, who added: “While we will not talk out of fear we have no fear of talks.”

Residents of RS Pura sector, who work close to the fence, said villages across the border were deserted. Locals says Rangpur, Anandpur, Surgpur villages in Pakistan seem to have been hit hard by India’s retaliatory shelling.

(With inputs from HT Correspondent, New Delhi)