Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to chair a Cabinet defence committee meeting next week to discuss the ongoing tension with India, officials said.
“The PM is very much concerned about the tension and wishes to settle this. He will chair a meeting of the Cabinet defence committee after Id holidays (ending on Monday),” a senior government official said.
Pakistan and India have been blaming each other for the Line of Control (LoC) violations recently. Both claim their soldiers have been killed in the crossfire.
“The Prime Minister has issued instructions to summon the meeting of the committee,” said the official. “The tension with India stemming from incidents on the Line of Control will be discussed,” he added.
Earlier, Mr Sharif has said that the tension on the LoC should not be allowed to go out of control and expressed the resolve that Pakistan was ready to hold talks with India on military and political levels.
Mr Sharif became the first democratic leader to say that he had been “saddened” over the skirmishes on the LoC, which has seen the loss of “precious human lives”.
Mr Sharif said it was imperative that both countries should take steps to ensure calm on the LoC.
He said, “It is incumbent upon the leadership of both sides not to allow the situation to drift and take steps to improve the atmosphere by engaging constructively with a view to building trust and confidence. (I will) take up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. During the meeting, we will discuss steps to further build trust and consolidate this relationship.”