Representational imageNew Delhi: The tacit understanding between the militaries of India and Pakistan has completely gone for a toss, going by the allegation by the Pakistan establishment that the Indian army has launched a heavy artillery offensive along the Line of Control at the Keran sector.
Though shelling was not unheard of along the LoC until 2003, both sides agreed to a ceasefire in 2004 after a meeting between Indian prime minister A.B. Vajpayee and Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf. A ceasefire was declared in Siachen two years before that.
Until 2003, machine gun and mortar firing was common along the LoC but heavy artillery guns were rarely used. The artillery guns and even the mortar and machine guns fell silent after the pact in 2004 January.
However, machine gun and mortar firing had resumed after bilateral relations worsened in the recent years. The offensive intensified over the past two years when diplomatic ties reached their nadir. Any use of heavy artillery suggests a throwback to the 1990s.
Machine guns and mortars are used by the border security forces and the infantry along the LoC. Mortars have a firing range of less than 5 kilometers. Heavy artillery, on the other hand, is put to use in a real war. India’s frontline guns, Bofors 155 mm, can fire up to 40 kilometers across the LoC.
Pakistan has not clearly said if the Indian army used these specific guns. Even short-range guns could fire up to 25 kilometers across the LoC. The army might have had in its crosshairs some targets beyond the reach of mortars and between military installations.
