Border tragedy

Terrorist incidents in India, especially in regions near the Line of Control or international border, and ceasefire violations by Pakistan using heavy-calibre weapons have become a near permanent fixture for some time. Instead of dipping, this trend only seemed to strengthen after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif in the Russian city of Ufa in an effort to further normalise bilateral ties.

At bottom it was this — Islamabad shying away from discussing ways to curb the scourge of terrorism — that eventually scuttled the meeting of the two countries’ national security advisers in New Delhi last week. Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of the cross-border firing and mortar shelling by Pakistan in violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement, and the retaliation this draws from India, is the death of innocent men, women and children in border areas of both countries.

Why should the lives of people be snuffed out because of the malign politics and the tactics of proxy war being engaged in by a country whose inner political dynamics decrees the spread of extremist ideologies? On Friday morning, some 10 civilians were reportedly killed on both sides of the border in the Ranbirsinghpora sector in Jammu on the Indian side and the corresponding Sialkot sector in Pakistan. In Pakistan, a nominal democracy where the Army is supreme, this may not matter much. But India needs to offer better security to its civilians and also institutionalised financial support in the case of injury or death.