The past week has witnessed a resurgence of the cross-border firing along the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu. The latest border escalation, which incidentally follows the announcement by centre of the unilateral Ramzan ceasefire in Kashmir has raised the bilateral tension by several notches. At least four civilians have been killed and nine others have been injured in heavy cross-border shelling and firing in Kathua, Jammu and Samba sectors. It is a familiar spectacle that is playing out in the border areas. Hundreds of residents have been evacuated with the help of bullet proof vehicles and put in safe shelters. Dozens of cattle have also perished in Pakistani shelling while houses and other structures have suffered huge damages. In R S Pura, Arnia, Bishnah of Jammu district and Ramgarh and Samba sectors firing and shelling continued unabated through Tuesday and the overnight.
The escalation along the border sits uneasily with the ceasefire in Valley which according to the DGP SP Vaid has been holding well so far. The tragic exception so far was the firing by the Army on the villagers in Shopian who objected to its Iftar party. Four girls, two of them sisters, were injured as a result.
But the situation along the border has only gotten worse. According to reports, a war-like situation prevails with both the armies trying to outdo each other in the use of greater force. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the security forces have a free hand to respond as they deem fit if the neighbouring country continued the offensive. But this state of affairs is dangerous. If left unattended, it could easily slide into a destabilizing bigger conflict. And both the countries faced with their enormous respective challenges would hardly afford it, or even want it.
It is, therefore, time for them to call a halt to this madness and take steps towards normalization of their relationship. And as proved by the decade-long border ceasefire which was in place up to as early as 2014, this is eminently possible. The calm borders had become an important factor in the normalization of the relations between the two countries, enabling them to start one of the most promising dialogue processes through 2003-2007 which by accounts of the top leaders of the two countries who were at the helm at the time was close to a breakthrough on Kashmir. The ongoing border eruption and its every possibility to further escalate should get the two countries to urgently do something about it. There is a need for them to reach out to each other and pull the situation back from the brink. With dialogue already suspended and tensions rising high, the neighbours can ill-afford to let the pointless cross-border skirmishes go on unchecked.
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