NEW DELHI, 26 November 2003 — The guns along the Kashmir border fell silent at midnight yesterday as a formal cease-fire between India and Pakistan came into effect.
The directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan — Lt. General. B.S. Takhar and Maj. Gen. Mohammed Yousuf — agreed on the telephone that both armies would stop shooting.
The announcement was made simultaneously in Delhi and Islamabad.
“The directors general of military operations of India and Pakistan...agreed to observe a cease-fire with effect from midnight along the international border, the Line of Control and Siachen Glacier,” an Indian Foreign Ministry statement said. India on Monday welcomed the unilateral cease-fire announced by Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and reciprocated by offering a truce on the Siachen Glacier. Pakistan immediately welcomed India’s offer.
Guns started falling silent from Monday, with only small skirmishes reported in the Rajouri and Jammu districts.
This is the first truce along the international border since the Kashmir insurgency began. It is also the first time India has accepted a cease-fire along the Line of Control and the first time that India has offered a cease-fire in Siachen.
