LoC remains tense as Pak opens fire on Indian posts again

It's almost a week of flared tensions between India and Pakistan. Across the Line of Control, fresh firing has been reported from eight posts, and even as India tried to de-escalate the tension, the Pakistan foreign office on Friday summoned the Indian envoy, issuing him a demarche over the killing of a Pakistani soldier in incidents of firing on Thursday evening.

India, however, blamed Pakistan for the aggression. MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, "The Indian envoy said there was unprovoked firing from the Pakistan side in Mendhar sector and that there was controlled response from the Indian side."

By Friday evening, the Army was responding to fresh Pakistani fire, but it didn't get a response to its request for a flag meeting of brigade commanders in Mendhar. For now, neither side is accepting the responsibility for the intermittent but heavy firing on the LoC through the week and they haven't agreed on how to resolve the mini-crisis.

While Pakistan again asked for a UN probe into the ceasefire violations, India again rejected it.

On the positive side, India expects trade and bus service at Poonch to resume next week. Trade and travel is uninterrupted at Wagah and Uri, and both governments have said that they remain committed to the peace process.

A week of ceasefire violations has left four soldiers dead - two each on both sides. Despite both governments speaking the language of restraint, tensions are not abating, which is why there is real concern in government quarters in New Delhi about a slide in bilateral ties, which the government wants to stem at the earliest.