Pakistan and India issued a statement on February 25 stating that they strictly abide by the line of control (LoC) and the ceasefire agreement of other departments, which will take effect from midnight on the 24th.

The statement stated that the two sides reviewed the situation along the line of actual control and other relevant areas in a "free, candid and friendly atmosphere." In order to achieve a mutually beneficial and sustainable peace, the commanders of the two sides agreed to resolve core issues and concerns that may disrupt peace and trigger violence. Both India and Pakistan also reiterated that they will use the existing hotline and border talks mechanism to deal with any unforeseen circumstances and misunderstandings. It is unclear what prompted the ceasefire agreement.

Iftihar, director of the Public Relations Bureau of Pakistan’s Armed Forces, stated that the hotline-level liaison between India and Pakistan began in 1987, and the military commanders of the two sides maintained contacts through this mechanism. This liaison between the two sides aims to strictly implement the agreement reached in 2003. Ceasefire agreement.

This is not the first time India and Pakistan have agreed to implement the ceasefire agreement reached in 2003 in recent years

In May 2018, the commanders of the Indian and Pakistani armed forces also agreed to implement the ceasefire agreement through the hotline, but with little success. According to Pakistani military statistics, since 2003, 92% of India’s ceasefire violations occurred between 2014 and 2021. In 2019, India had the highest number of ceasefire violations, and 2018 caused the most civilian casualties. After the partition of the two countries in 1947, two large-scale wars broke out between Pakistan and India over the ownership of Kashmir. Although the two sides reached a ceasefire agreement along the line of actual control of India and Pakistan in Kashmir in 2003, the small-scale armed conflict between the two countries has never been completely interrupted.

Iftihar said, “The two sides reached a ceasefire agreement on the line of actual control in 2003, but since 2014, the number of violations of the ceasefire agreement on the line of actual control began to increase. Since 2003, the Indian side has violated the ceasefire agreement. More than 13,500 times, 310 civilians were killed and about 1,600 civilians were injured."

Pakistan hopes to maintain peaceful relations with all its neighbors, including India. Of all the confidence-building measures with India, the ceasefire agreement is the most important. Editor/Xu Shengpeng