- The Indian and Pakistani armies have said they began to adhere strictly to a ceasefire in the LoC in JK starting at midnight on February 24.
Just over a week after New Delhi and Islamabad recommitted to the 2003 truce on the Line of Control (LoC), India said on Friday that it wants normal relations with all neighbors, including Pakistan, although its position on issues key remains unchanged.
The Indian and Pakistani armies have said they began to adhere strictly to a ceasefire in the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir starting at midnight on February 24, the apparent result of behind-the-scenes contacts between the two countries.
In response to a question on whether the new commitment to the ceasefire would lead to more confidence-building measures or whether there had been any change in India’s stated position to link talks with Pakistan to crackdown on terrorism, Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said only: The problems between the two sides must be dealt with peacefully.
Read also: ‘Ensuring disconnection at other sticking points in LAC’: India tells China again
“India wants to have normal relations with all its neighbors, including Pakistan. We have always maintained that the problems, if any, between India and Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally and peacefully, ”he said.
“Our position on key issues remains unchanged,” he added, without going into detail.
Shortly after the two countries’ armies issued a rare joint ceasefire statement on February 25, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s key security adviser Moeed Yusuf had said in a statement by Audio broadcast in Islamabad that the deal was the result of “behind the scenes” contacts and “more roads will be opened” in the future.
There has also been a notable reduction in rhetoric from the leaders of the two countries and the ceasefire agreement has been well received by key players such as the United States and the European Union (EU).
At a US State Department press conference on Thursday, spokesman Ned Price called on all parties to ease tensions throughout the LoC “by returning to the 2003 ceasefire commitments.” He said the United States also condemns “terrorists who seek to infiltrate through the LoC.”
The United States continues to “support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and other areas of concern,” he added.
To close
.
