Army lodges protest over unprovoked Pakistan firing in J-K

Jammu, May 21 : A day after Islamabad gave an assurance that it was committed to maintaining the ceasefire; the Indian Army today lodged a strong protest with its Pakistani counterparts over Monday's unprovoked cross-border firing at a forward post in the Poonch sector in Jammu and Kashmir.

"A flag meeting was held at the Roshni border post along LoC in Mendhar sector of Poonch district, where India lodged a strong protest over the ceasefire violation and unprovoked firing on Monday," Defence spokesman Lt Colonel S D Goswami said.

He said a formal protest note was handed over to the Pakistani Army officers. India had sought the flag meeting after the incident in which rockets were also fired by the Pakistani side.

India gave a detailed account of the cross-border firing on the Dhip post in which a jawan was killed, Goswami said.

Indian officers also gave evidence to their Pakistani counterparts to prove ceasefire violation, he added.

Colonel Manish Kumar headed the Indian side while the Pakistani team was led by Colonel S Malik.

The protest comes a day after India and Pakistan resumed their composite dialogue, the first since the new government assumed office in Islamabad last month.

ANI