The data about instances of ceasefire violations and cross-border firing was furnished by MoS (Defence) Shripad Naik in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha on Monday

Indian armed forces have recorded as many as 3,186 instances of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region between January 1 and September 7, 2020. The data was furnished by MoS (Defence) Shripad Naik in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.

Data now available also indicates that 242 incidents of cross-border firing have occurred along Indo-Pak International Border in Jammu region between January 1 and August 31 of this year.

The Indian Army suffered eight fatal casualties and two non-fatal casualties in all of these instances recorded till September 7. In addition, there have been five non-fatal casualties of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

Appropriate retaliation to ceasefire violations, as required, was carried out by the Indian Army and the BSF.

Indian authorities also took up all cases of ceasefire violations with Pakistan authorities through the established mechanisms of hotlines, flag meetings, Directorate General of Military Operations talks as well as diplomatic channels between the two countries.

The most recent instance of ceasefire violation was reported from J&K's Rajouri district on September 7. A statement by the Ministry of Defence had stated that this firing from small arms and shelling from mortars from across the border was "unprovoked".

Earlier this month, recently appointed Director-General (DG) of the BSF, Rakesh Asthana had told Jawans at the force's Paloura camp, "Our role has become more important now as we are the first line of Indian defence."