By IANS,
New Delhi: India has lodged a “strong protest” with Pakistan over the recent firing from across the border, including of rockets in northern Punjab.
The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said the Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Rifat Masood was called to South Block and informed about the border “ceasefire violations”.
According to Prakash, “strong protest was conveyed over incidents of grave and unprovoked firing across the International Border by Pakistan, including the firing of rockets in the Amritsar Sector of the International Border in the night of Jan 8-9, 2010”.
“The government has asked Pakistan to take all necessary steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents,” he said.
The latest exchange of firing took place Tuesday afternoon in Poonch sector, when Pakistani troops opened machinegun fire apparently to provide fire cover to a group of intruders.
More than a dozen infiltration bids have taken place along the LoC and international border in Jammu region, since the beginning of 2010.
These attempts have come at a time when Jammu and Kashmir recorded 2009 as a low violence year.
In the Jan 8 incident, two rockets fired from the Pakistani side exploded in farms in India. This was the second time that rockets had been fired from across the border. In September, rockets fell near Wagah, but did not explode.