JAMMU An uneasy calm prevailed along the Line of Control (LoC) in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir with no report of cross-border firing over the past 20 hours, officials said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called off her scheduled visit to Jammu province on Thursday to review the situation along the borders in the wake of intense shelling over the past nine days besides inaugurating two vital bridges in Samba and Akhnoor sectors, they said.
A defence spokesman said there was no report of cross-border firing anywhere along the LoC in Jammu province, especially in the worst-hit Rajouri and Poonch districts since Wednesday afternoon.
The cross-border skirmishes between the two sides had caused panic among the border residents.
“The Army remains on high alert all along the LoC and the International Border and is keeping a close watch on the situation,” the spokesman said.
There has been a spurt in cross-border firing after India’s airstrike in Balakot on February 26 following the February 14 suicide bombing in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
Four civilians, including three members of a family, were killed and several others injured in cross-border firing along the LoC in the state last week.
On Wednesday, the Indian Army issued a stern warning to Pakistan against targeting civilians along the LoC, saying any further provocation or misadventure by it will have “dire consequences”.
The spokesman said the visit of the defence minister to Samba and Akhnoor sectors for inauguration of Bein bridge and Dhok bridge has been called off.
“Fresh schedule will be intimated later,” he said without giving reasons for the postponement of the visit.
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