Calm on Kashmir borders after Indo-Pak DGMOs talks

Srinagar, May 31 (KNB): A day after the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan decided to ensure peace on the borders between the two countries, calm prevailed on Wednesday on both the international border and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, following the highest levels of violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in the restive region in 15 years..

Nearly 50,000 residents of border villages in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts had migrated out of their homes because of indiscriminate targeting of civilian and military facilities.

The ceasefire violations had also spread to the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri, Baramulla and Kupwara districts of the state after the violations continued on the international border for nearly a fortnight.

Reports from Pakistan also indicated that heavy losses in terms of military and civilian lives were suffered there in firing by the Indian troops.

Border residents on the Indian side of the international border were put up by local administration in makeshift camps set up in schools, Panchayats and community halls even when most of these migrants preferred to live with relatives in areas away from the border.

The decision of the DGMOs to hold fire has come as a glimmer of hope for farmers whose crops have started shedding grain for want of being harvested. Children have not gone to schools for nearly a fortnight in these areas.

As calm returned to both the LoC and the international border on Wednesday, authorities have decided to keep eyes on the situation for few days before ordering re-opening of schools and shifting back of the migrants.

Independently confirmed data on cross-border clashes is virtually non-existent, but figures given by both sides show a powerful, sustained surge in violence along the LoC in the past two years that has intensified since the start of 2018. (KNB)

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