Pakistan, India agree on LoC ceasefire.

Byline: Baqir Sajjad Syed

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan and India on Thursday said that they had recommitted themselves to the 2003 ceasefire arrangement at the Line of Control and agreed to address the 'core issues' that could undermine peace and stability.

The surprise announcement was made in a joint statement by the militaries of the two countries on a 'hotline contact' between their directors general military operations (DGMOs), which had apparently taken place a day earlier.

The conversation between Pakistani DGMO Maj Gen Nauman Zakaria and his Indian counterpart Lt Gen Paramjit SanAgha was described as 'free' and 'frank' and held in a 'cordial atmosphere'.

The agreement reached between them took effect a night earlier under which ceasefire violations at the LoC had ended from midnight of Feb 24 and 25.

Qureshi terms agreement a positive development; Delhi says India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan

'Both sides agreed for strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the LoC and all other sectors, with effect from midnight 24/25 February 2021,' said a statement.

Pakistan and India had in November 2003 agreed to cease fire along the LoC and the Working Boundary. The agreement held for a few years, but regular violations have occurred since 2008. A sharp spike in the truce breaches has, meanwhile, been witnessed since 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in India. Last year Indian troops committed over 3,000 ceasefire violations in which 28 people were martyred.

The statement said the two sides had concurred on reviving the existing mechanisms - hotline contact and flag meetings - for dealing with 'any unforeseen situation or misunderstanding'.

Hotline contact is one of the oldest military confidence-building measures between Pakistan and India. The hotline contact was originally established in 1971, but its use followed ups and downs in the relations. The two sides had in their secretary-level talks in August 1992 agreed to resume DGMOs' communication via the hotline on a weekly basis. The practice, however, could not become a permanent feature and remained dependent on the state of bilateral relations.

One of the key parts of the statement that did not get much attention was the one related to commitment to addressing core issues bedeviling the ties.

'In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sustainable peace, the two DGMOs agreed to address each other's core...