It is two years of reaffirmation of the ceasefire agreement along Line of Control between India and Pakistan. On February 25, 2021, in a sudden move, armies of the nuclear power countries reached an agreement to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the LoC and address each other’s core issues and concerns which have the propensity to disturb peace and lead to violence.
Till then, the 2003 agreement between two countries existed only on paper given the volume of violations indulged amid claims and counterclaims about initiation by both the countries.
The two countries are now holding the LoC which has been all-along welcomed by people. Till then both the countries were caught in a spiral of almost daily exchanges of fire along the LoC. There was a danger of no return to the talks table which is dangerous for regional peace. It is more so when the situation along LAC remains edgy with top officers describing it as stable but unpredictable.
As per the statistics available, the last three years till 2021 had seen increased violations since the ceasefire came into force.
Even thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes close to LoC on either side of it, resulting in enormous human sufferings. The psychological impact on the people from these hostilities is huge. There is constant fear and risk of being killed which adversely impacts mental wellbeing, particularly that of women, children, and the elderly. The continuous skirmishes can also be catastrophic for the region. All this makes the need for the talks all more important to address the bitterness or at least reduce it to bare minimum levels. Now that both countries have continued to hold the truce, it needs to be implemented religiously.
The 2003 agreement was all but a triumph of diplomacy but in the last several years, both the countries have allowed drift which is widening with every day. It however can be arrested through high-level political intervention between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Both countries need to understand the futilities of the war. Let the truce pact flourish. In 2004, there had been only one ceasefire violation. The situation at present seems much better on the LoC and the IB. In subsequent years the LoC saw an increase and decrease in the ceasefire violations. People, living on LoC and IB, hope and pray for continuation of the truce pact.