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India, Pakistan Agree to Cease-Fire
The Indian and Pakistani armies agreed to stop exchanging fire across their border, including on the disputed Kashmir frontier, starting at midnight today in the first formal cease-fire between the two nuclear-armed rivals since an Islamic militant insurgency began in India’s portion of divided Jammu-Kashmir in 1989, Associated Press reported. The beginning of the cease-fire marks the Eid al-Fitr festival that ends the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “Our intent is for an indefinite period,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said. “This definitely is a positive development and validates Pakistan’s call for cease-fire along the Line of Control.” India has accused Pakistan of firing shots to provide cover for Islamic militants, who sneak into the Indian portion of the Himalayan region of Jammu-Kashmir to attack government forces and civilians (Ashok Sharma, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 25). U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday “warmly” welcomed the decision, saying in a statement released by his spokesman that he was “encouraged by recent efforts by the two countries to build confidence in their relations and to address outstanding problems” (U.N. release, Nov. 24).
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