Singh has put all the blame on Nawazs shoulders, essentially accusing him of not abiding by the agreement

between the two leaders to maintain the ceasefire along the LoC. Pakistan has predictably fired back by claiming that most of the unpro oked firing has come from !ndias side. Pakistan has claimed unpro oked !ndian firing, mainly in the Sialkot sector. !t has killed and in"ured mostly ci ilians. #he incidents continue to be reported with !ndia claiming $%% LoC iolations in $%&' while Pakistan saying it faces regular attacks across the border. #here is ob iously no way of independently erifying all these claims. (ut the situation on the LoC has become so bad that e en the traditional e)change of sweets on *idul +zha between soldiers of the two countries did not take place. ,n a more concrete le el, the suspension of bus ser ices across the LoC has affected thousands of families who are separated by the de-facto border. #he countries must realise that increasing tensions along the LoC ha e an impact on people who ha e nothing to do with power plays and geopolitical strategic gamesmanship. #he hyping of incidents beyond measure ends up causing more damage to hopes of peace than the original incidents e er could. !t is also clear that the mechanisms established in the past to pre ent "ust such a situation from arising ha e not really worked. #hese also included regular e)changes between the directors general of military operations on both sides and hotline links between those on the ground. !t is unclear to what degree hawks, most notably in !ndia, are playing up things as that country mo es towards a general election. (ut, at all costs, we need peace to win. .or this to happen new means must be found to tackle the LoC issue and ensure any goodwill the top leadership of both countries ha e trickles lower down the ranks. Peace between the two countries is ital to the region, and methods to pre ent it from being disrupted must be found. #he LoC is impossible to defend from all infiltration and so if blame has to be apportioned for any unauthorised mo ement across the border, it needs to be shared e/ually. !ndia, as the prime instigator of the war of words, needs to realise that the cause of peace is not helped by belligerence. #his may consume the entirety of the Pakistan-!ndia relationship and whate er progress had been made on economic and political fronts o er the last two years. Progress that Nawaz Sharif has always said he is keen to continue. Singh must ratchet down the tension and rely on diplomacy, not aggression.