Pakistan summons Indian diplomat over border clashes

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan on Tuesday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to lodge a protest over the killing of three soldiers on the disputed Kashmir frontier.

The foreign ministry summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and “condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violation”.

“The deliberate targeting of civilians and soldiers is indeed condemnable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws”, a foreign ministry statement read.

Islamabad urged New Delhi to respect a 2003 ceasefire understanding, investigate the latest and other incidents of ceasefire violations and instruct Indian forces to respect the truce.

Tensions between the two nuclear rivals have been running high since India accused Pakistan of having links to gunmen who killed 19 soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir in September last year, fueling the border clashes which have since killed nearly 90 soldiers from both sides.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

The two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict so far, most of them by the Indian armed forces. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.