On Monday, Indian officials said they welcomed the Pakistani statement. Military leaders formalized the deal in their weekly phone call on Tuesday. It was to be hoped that both sides would try to stick to the 2003 agreement and that there would be a lasting peace. The two nations should try to establish peaceful relations instead of exacerbating the conflict. “India wants normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan. We have always maintained that we are determined to deal with issues, if any, bilaterally peacefully,” Foreign Ministry (MEA) spokesman Anurag Srivastava said, when asked about the timing of the deal, which follows days after India and China announced a withdrawal along the Line of Real Control (LAC). “On key issues, our position remains unchanged,” he added. In February 2021, Pakistan and India reaffirmed their commitment to the 2003 ceasefire agreement [4] along the LoC and agreed to resolve “key issues” that threaten peace and stability. The two GMOs agreed to discuss each other`s core issues/concerns that have the potential to disrupt peace and contribute to the conflict in order to achieve a mutually beneficial and lasting peace, the statement said. This essentially meant that the agreement reached between the two parties went beyond the commitment to abide by the 2003 agreement and included a commitment to resolve the real issues at stake.
Saeed Ahmed Rid is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Pakistani Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He holds a PhD in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, UK, and was a Commonwealth University Fellow (2017-18) at the South Asian Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Area Studies, University of Oxford, UK. His most recent article is “Aman ki Asha (A Desire for Peace): A Case Study of a People-to-People Contacts Peace Initiative between India and Pakistan” (2020) in Contemporary South Asia. According to the Ministry of Defence in Parliament earlier this month, there have been 5133 cases of CFV along the LoC and other areas of Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in 46 deaths in 2020 and 3,479 CFVs in 2019. In May 2018, in a similar conversation on the hotline, the DGsMO agreed to strictly abide by the ceasefire, but subsequent tensions related to the Pulwama attack, Balakot airstrikes, and the Article 370 decision led to a sharp increase in CFVs. The 2003 ceasefire agreement was remembered as a turning point because it brought peace to the LoC until 2006. Between 2003 and 2006, the military of the two countries did not shoot each other once. However, ceasefire violations have become increasingly frequent since 2006.
In 2018, more than 2,000 ceasefire violations were reported [2]. Ceasefire violations reached more than 3,400 in 2019 and more than 5,000 in 2020. Since 2006, there have been more than 14,000 ceasefire violations. India`s Hindustan Times newspaper said the ceasefire deal stemmed from “behind-the-scenes talks” between national security adviser Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Moeed Yusuf to ensure peace across borders. “That`s why this ceasefire was a success and also had a very positive impact on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir – militancy came back because there was a dialogue between [then Pakistani President Pervez] Musharraf and [then Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari] Vajpayee,” she said. This raises a question mark over the length of the new commitment to a ceasefire along the LoC, especially as summers approach. As a matter of annual routine, pakistan`s demands for terrorist infiltration are increasing as summer begins in the Kashmir Valley. Melting ice on the high mountains offers Pakistan an opportunity to foment terrorism in the valley.
To resolve the border dispute, India and Pakistan signed several agreements, namely: Communication between the two militaries on Thursday via their so-called telephone contact took place after months due to the deterioration of relations between Pakistan and India. Last month, there was a rare thaw in the otherwise frozen relations between the two countries as their militaries announced a sudden and rare endorsement of a 2003 ceasefire agreement and pledged to end the violence that has killed at least 74 people in 2020 alone. www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/highest-number-of-border-violations-by-pakistan-before-february-ceasefire-101615533278418.html#:~:text=The%20data%20shows%20835%20ceasefire,forcefully%20to%20the%20Pakistani%20violations. The surprise announcement came in a joint statement by military officers from both countries on a “telephone contact” between their directors general of military operations (OGD), which had apparently taken place the day before. [4] Dinakar Peri and Suhasini Haidar, India, Pakistan agree to abide by the 2003 ceasefire, The Hindu, February 25, 2021, In terms of neutral observers, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif`s offer requires careful consideration by the Indian side, as UNAMIRP has existed under a UN mandate since 1949. Therefore, by accepting a more prominent role for UNMOGIP, India would not compromise its position of not engaging in third-party mediation between India and Pakistan, as UNMOGIP would not be involved in negotiations between the two sides. I have seen claims in the Indian media that attribute today`s ceasefire announcement between Pakistani and Indian OGMOs to the behind-the-scenes diplomacy between me and the Indian NSA. There is no basis for that.
Such discussions did not take place between Mr Doval and me- 1/4 www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-pakistan-agree-to-ceasefire-along-border/article33930265.ece It did indeed mean that the agreement reached between the two sides went beyond an agreement on compliance with the 2003 agreement and included a commitment to tackle the real problems – Kashmir from a Pakistani perspective. Pakistan and India agreed in November 2003 to a ceasefire along the Demarcation Line and the Labour Border. The agreement lasted for several years, but since 2008 there have been regular violations. A sharp increase in ceasefire breaks has been seen since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in India. Last year, Indian troops committed more than 3,000 ceasefire violations, during which 28 people were martyred. Interestingly, the announcement of the ceasefire on February 25 came just over two weeks after China and India agreed to a military withdrawal in eastern Ladakh [5], ending a nearly 10-month standoff that began with areas around Lake Pangong. This leads to speculation that the Sino-Indian withdrawal talks are more complicated than they seem, and that the Indo-Pakistani ceasefire declaration and the Sino-Indian withdrawal plans are not separate incidents that have nothing to do with each other. In addition, it is also unclear to what extent a possible change in the Biden administration`s attitude toward Pakistan has affected Indian calculations. Shimla Agreement, 1972: After the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, this agreement was concluded. The two countries have agreed to settle their differences bilaterally under this agreement.
The Armistice Line was replaced by the Line of Control as a result of the Agreement (LoC). (Accordingly, the position of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan in monitoring the ceasefire line is no longer relevant. Pakistan, on the other hand, continues to deny this.) The buffer zone is not included in this Agreement. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi welcomed the agreement and said it was a positive development. “This could be a good start for the future. India will have to sincerely respect this ceasefire agreement. How can we make progress on the issue of occupied Kashmir if the environment is not beneficial,” he said. The two countries agreed on the ceasefire in Kashmir in 2003 amid fears that continued hostilities could inadvertently degenerate into a nuclear exchange. .