India’s Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia met his Pakistani counterpart Major General Amir Riaz at the Wagah-Attari border to ease tension and ensure peace at the Line of Control (LoC).
General Bhatia said that both sides have agreed to maintain ceasefire along the defacto border in Jammu and KAshmir which has seen several bloody clashes between the two armies in the last few months. The DGMO-level talks are being held after 14 years. The last time the DGMOs met was in July 1999 after the Kargil War.
The issues discussed include violations of ceasefire at the LoC as well as infiltration. The focus was on maintaining ceasefire and bringing normalcy.
A Brigadier and three Lieutenant Colonels from each side were also present at the meeting. The two DGMOs usually talk on the hotline every Tuesday.
Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the decision to hold the meeting between the Pakistan and Indian DGMOs was taken on political level.
The DGMO of Pakistan invited his Indian counterpart for a meeting to strengthen the mechanisms for ensuring a ceasefire along the LoC and the proposal was accepted by India.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif at their meeting on September 29 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York decided on the DGMO meeting in view of the frequent violations of ceasefire along the LoC. The two sides agreed on the ceasefire in November 2003.
The LoC has seen several ceasefire violations and violent incidents in recent months. Five Indian soldiers were killed in an attack in August, leading to tension along the LoC.
Associated Press of Pakistan said it is expected that the meeting would work towards reducing tensions along the line that divides Kashmir into two halves.
—IANS