Pak PM wants India to immediately halt firing

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday said India should not misunderstand his desire for peace and immediately halt firing across the borders.

Sharif asked India to immediately honour the sanctity of Line of Control and the International Border and stop firing for durable peace, the Dawn reported. He was addressing a high-level national security committee meeting attended by select cabinet members, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, the three services chiefs and the Inter-Services Intelligence chief.

Sharif told the meeting that Pakistan's desire for peace should not be misunderstood and called upon India to immediately honour the sanctity of the Line of Control and working boundary and halt firing for durable peace, the paper said.

The meeting discussed the border tension with India and overall security issues.

The top military leaders briefed the meeting about the latest situation along the LoC and International Border.

Sharif was told that the Pakistani forces were only firing in defence and not targeting civilian areas.

India and Pakistan have been trading heavy mortar and gun fire along the International Border and LoC since more than a week.

The meeting also discussed the overall security situation and ongoing Zarb-e-Azb operation in North Waziristan. Sharif, who visited the areas on Thursday, expressed satisfaction over the successful offensive to flush out terrorists from the area.

Earlier, the chief of army staff General Raheel Sharif, naval chief Admiral Zakullah and Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz separately met with the prime minister and discussed matters pertaining to national security.

Image: Indian soldiers along the LoC