Pakistan Army troops shot down an Indian spying quadcopter in Pandu sector along the Line of Control (LoC), the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday.
#PakistanArmy troops shot down an Indian spying #quadcopter in Pandu Sector along LOC.
The quadcopter had intruded 200 meters on Pakistan’s side of the #LOC. This is 10th Indian quadcopter shot down by Pakistan Army this year. pic.twitter.com/pJQTau4HVl— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) July 26, 2020
“The quadcopter had intruded 200 metres on Pakistan’s side of the LoC,” said Major General Babar Iftikhar, director general of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a tweet, adding that this was the tenth Indian quadcopter to be shot down by Pakistan Army’s troops this year.
Pakistan: a history of shooting down Indian quadcopters
On June 28, an Indian spying quadcopter was shot down in Hot Spring sector along the LoC after intruding 850 metres on Pakistan’s side, the ISPR had said.
Earlier that month, the Pakistan Army had shot down yet another Indian spying quadcopter in Khanjar sector along the LoC. “The quadcopter had intruded 500 metres on Pakistan’s side of the LoC,” the ISPR had said.
Officials believe the Indian Army is deliberately escalating tensions at the LoC by sending spy drones and by resorting to unprovoked shelling. This constitutes a breach of the November 2003 ceasefire agreement.
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On June 3, Maj Gen Iftikhar had warned that any military adventurism by India will be met with “uncontrollable and unintended consequences”, cautioning the neighbouring nation to “not play with fire”.
“Many times, their [India’s] quadcopters have intruded on our side [of the LoC] and in the past we have downed some of them, and it has been covered in the media.”
“Being a military spokesperson, let me say this: Indian aggression aimed towards Pakistan will be responded [to] with full might, there should be no doubt about this. We are ready, we will respond — and we will respond with full might.”
Indian quadcopter downed by Pakistan: follows diplomatic feud
Earlier, longtime rivals India and Pakistan announced they have decided to reduce by half staff at each other’s High Commissions, in yet another sign of escalating tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. Pakistan and India are to cut diplomatic staff following a recent downturn in their already sour relations.
“The Government of India has taken the decision to reduce the staff strength in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi by 50%. It would reciprocally reduce its own presence in Islamabad to the same proportion.
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This decision, which is to be implemented in seven days, was conveyed to the Pakistani Charge d’Affaires,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
Pakistan’s Charge d’ Affaires Haider Shah was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs a week after two Indian embassy staff were briefly detained in Islamabad following an alleged hit-and-run incident.
Pakistan flays India for Kashmir citizenship amendment
Earlier, Pakistan rejected the granting of domicile certificates to thousands of Indian nationals Saturday in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir, characterising it as an attempt to change the demographic structure of the disputed region.
As many as 25,000 people have been granted domicile certificates in the territory since New Delhi introduced a controversial law in May.
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Eligible non-locals, along with those who have lived in Indian-administered Kashmir for 15 years, or studied for seven years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examinations in a local school, can apply for the certificate under the new law.
“Pakistan categorically rejects the grant of domicile certificates of Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) by the Indian authorities to reportedly 25,000 Indian nationals,” said a statement by Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Kashmiris, it said, also rejects the “bogus domicile certificates.”
India-Pakistan relations: the picture so far
Long-fraught relations between the two arch-rivals plummeted further following India’s scrapping of the disputed region’s longstanding special status last August.
Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.
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Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir.
Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.
According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.
GVS News Desk with additional input by other sources