Border skirmishes continue in different sectors along LoC for 9th day in J-K
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Jammu (PTI): The post-to-post small arms firing between India and Pakistani troops continued in different sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir for the ninth consecutive night, officials said on Saturday.
However, there was no casualty in the border skirmishes initiated by Pakistan troops in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
This was the nine consecutive nights of unprovoked firing from across the border, which had mostly restricted to LoC. There was only one incident of firing along the International Border (IB).
Firing between the two sides comes amid heightened tensions following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed.
“During the night of May 2 and 3, Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms fire across the Line of Control opposite the Kupwara, Uri, and Akhnoor areas of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
“Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately,” a defence spokesman said.
Civilians living along the LoC and IB have begun cleaning their community and individual bunkers to make them habitable in case of an escalation to shelling.
Since the night of April 24, just hours after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty following a terror attack in Pahalgam, Pakistani troops have been resorting to unprovoked firing at various places along the LoC in J&K, starting from the Kashmir Valley.
Initially beginning with unprovoked small arms firing at several posts along the LoC in Kupwara and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir, Pakistan swiftly expanded its ceasefire violations to the Poonch sector and subsequently to the Akhnoor sector of the Jammu region.
This was followed by small arms firing at several posts along the LoC in the Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri district. Subsequently, the firing expanded to the Pargwal sector along the International Border in Jammu district.
The renewed ceasefire violations come despite a recent hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, during which the Indian side is learnt to have cautioned Pakistan.
On April 24, Pakistan blocked its airspace for Indian airlines, closed the Wagah border crossing, suspended all trade with India, and warned that any attempt to divert water would be considered an "act of war."
The ceasefire along the borders was reaffirmed in February 2021, when both countries agreed to observe the 2003 agreement in letter and spirit. However, the current situation marks a significant departure from the relative calm maintained since then.
India shares a total of 3,323 km of border with Pakistan, divided into three parts: the International Border (IB), approximately 2,400 km from Gujarat to the northern banks of the Chenab River in Akhnoor, Jammu; the Line of Control (LoC), 740 km long, running from parts of Jammu to parts of Leh; and the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), 110 km long, dividing the Siachen region from NJ 9842 to Indira Col in the north.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
