LoC firing, drone shot down: Is Pakistan army deliberately derailing peace talks with India?

Just days after the ice-breaker meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, the  military and intelligence establishment of Pakistan appear to have become over-active once again. India and Pakistan on Thursday lodged protests against each other after cross-border firing in Jammu and Kashmir left one dead and seven people injured.The rising tensions along the Jammu and Kashmir border – where civilians have been hit hard on both sides – follows the July 11 joint statement between India and Pakistan reached at Ufa, Russia, to build peace. Are the incidents of Pakistan allegedly shooting down an Indian drone and allegations of cross border firing mere coincidences or a deliberate attempt to derail the peace process? Both Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif have committed to restart the peace talks. Last Friday, Modi accepted an invitation from Sharif to visit Pakistan next year, raising hopes of an improvement in perennially difficult relations. It will be Modi’s first visit to Pakistan since coming to power. However, according to a report in CNN IBN, some pressure groups and the Pakistan Army, including the external intelligence agency ISI are putting pressure on the Nawaz Sharif government to not go ahead with talks between the National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval and other establishments. In fact both countries are now back to a blame game over ceasefire violations with both sides lodging protests. [caption id=“attachment_2346372” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Agency.[/caption] India lodged protests with Pakistan both in New Delhi and in Islamabad. The Pakistan foreign office, on its part, summoned the Indian high commissioner and criticised India over “air space violation” by an alleged Indian “spy” drone near the line of control. However, Pakistan’s allegations have been questioned by Indian intelligence agencies as the drone they have described having spotted, are not the kind used by India. Indian officials say the drones are used by Pakistan itself for highway patrolling and the one spotted by the army could be its own country’s. They also said that the drone may have belonged to Pakistan’s Punjab province. “The photograph of the drone indicates it is not of Indian design but Chinese and is commercially available,” Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told the media today. As Firstpost has argued earlier , there can be no meaningful dialogue between India and Pakistan unless the two sides agree to set aside their age-old practice of indulging in a blame game and focus on building on possible convergences. But the problem is that while Indian political and defence establishments speak in one voice, the Pakistani military remains the invisible but most potent hand which is not prepared to shed its anti-India mindset. Pakistani troops today pounded a number of places along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region with heavy firing and mortars, leaving four persons injured and triggering fear among the villagers. India lodged a protest with Pakistan while the Indian troops retaliated “effectively” to the cross-border firing. These events unfurled on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu tomorrow. The Indian Army already foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in Poonch district by a group of militants trying to enter the Indian side today. BSF officials said Pak Rangers have increased the arch of firing and shelling from Kanachak-Akhnoor sector to RS Pura sector now. Home Minister Rajnath Singh earlier today called an urgent meeting with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to review the overall situation in the wake of fresh ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the border in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, Director General of BSF met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to apprise him of the situation. In a press conference,  Foreign Secretary  S Jaishankar  said that India sought  an end to the firing and corrective steps on Pakistan’s part but the latter did not respond. “We remain committed to peace. But there should be no doubt that unprovoked firing from Pakistan will result in retaliation from India,” Jaishankar added. Pakistani troops targeted five border outposts (BoPs) and some civilian areas in RS Pura and Tawi forward belts, firing 81 mm mortar shells around 0350 hours.BSF troops guarding the border line retaliated effectively and the firing exchange continued till 0530 hours today. The Pakistan army also violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector, firing at various posts of the Indian army. Due to firing and shelling, fear has returned to haunt the border residents in Jammu who were hopeful that the recently held talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Russia would bring peace dividends for them. There have been a total of nine ceasefire violations during July. A woman, Poli Devi, was killed and six others, including two BSF jawans, were injured yesterday in firing and mortar shelling in Jammu district by Pakistan Rangers. Inputs from agencies