Pakistan summons indian envoy raghavan over spy drone issue

With tensions are rising at India-Pakistan border with repeated ceasefire violations and now Pakistan is blaming India for infiltrating Pakistan with Drones later.

While India lodged protest with Pakistan both in New Delhi and in Islamabad, the Pakistan Foreign Office summoned Indian High Commissioner and lodged strong protest over “air space violation” by an alleged Indian “spy” drone near the Line of Control and “ceasefire violation”.

The latest exchange of fire came despite a meeting of the two countries’ prime ministers last week on the sidelines of a summit in Russian Federation in an effort to ease tensions.

Five Pakistani civilians were killed “due to Indian unprovoked firing”, the Pakistani military said in statements on the clashes on the frontier in the disputed Kashmir region.

Also, media reports claimed that such drones are used by the Pakistan Police to monitor traffic, thereby opening up the possibility of the Pakistan Army having shot down one of its own drones.

“Pakistan is committed to the decisions agreed at Ufa between the Prime Ministers”, Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah said while addressing a weekly briefing here.

New Delhi, meanwhile, accused Islamabad of shelling a border village in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, killing a woman and wounding three other civilians.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said the drone’s intrusion into Pakistani territory violated the two agreements of 1991 on airspace violations and standard operating procedures of advance notice for military exercises, military manoeuvres and troop movement, the official FO statement said.

A woman has been killed and another six, including two soldiers, were injured in heavy firing from across the border in Akhnoor sector, in the seventh ceasefire violation this month.

Indian authorities claimed a Pakistani sniper started the firing on Wednesday morning. Rather, it appeared to be of Chinese design and was available off the shelf in the arms bazaar.

It will be the first time that Modi – who has a reputation as a hardline nationalist – has travelled to Pakistan since coming to power.

In October 2014, the situation became aggressive and Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif had to mention that Pakistan is a nuclear power and the country would be able to respond “befittingly” to the Indian aggression.