Pakistan that is continuously denying any wrong doings at Indo-Pak border has asked United Nations to probe the allegation of India. India has alleged that Pak troops had killed two Indian soldiers and injured one. Moreover, troops had also mutilated the body of one deceased soldier.
A UN Spokesman has confirmed that it has received an official complaint from Pakistan Army regarding to third party probe on 08 January 2013 India-Pak Line of Control (LoC) incident.
"Regarding the January 6 alleged incident, the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan, or UNMOGIP, has received an official complaint from the Pakistan Army and will conduct an investigation as soon as possible in accordance with its mandate," Martin Nesirky, spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was quoted as saying at a press briefing.
Pakistan has accused Indian troops of killing one of its soldiers while Indian officials charged Pakistani troops with sneaking into Jammu and Kashmir's Mendhar sector, and killing two Indian soldiers, and mutilating their bodies.
On the second "alleged incident" that occurred Jan 8, "no official complaint has been received either from the Pakistan Army or Indian Army", Nesirky said.
"UNMOGIP is aware that the Pakistan Army and Indian Army are in contact via the hotline and urges both sides to respect the cease fire and de-escalate tensions through dialogue," he said.
On Wednesday, Pakistan denied its troops crossed into Jammu and Kashmir and killed two Indian soldiers but said it was ready to investigate India's claim.
"Pakistan strongly rejects the Indian allegation of an attack across the Line of Control (LoC) on its military patrol in which two Indian soldiers were claimed to have been killed. These are baseless and unfounded allegations," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Pakistan was prepared to launch an investigation through the UNMOGIP on the ceasefire violations.
The Director General Military Operations of the Pakistani Army Wednesday spoke to his Indian counterpart by telephone and rejected New Delhi's claim.
Meanwhile, United States of America (USA) has asked India and Pakistan to have patience and cool down tensions through talking to each other to improve relations.
"We're urging both sides to take steps to end the violence. We continue to strongly support any efforts to improve relations between the two countries," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters Wednesday.
"We've also discussed these latest incidents with both governments, urged them to talk to each other, and urged calm," she said in response to a question about the incident.
"We are concerned about reports of violence along the Line of Control in Kashmir. It's our understanding that the governments of India and Pakistan are now talking and trying to work through these issues at a high level," Nuland said.
Asked if the US was worried about possible escalation of the incident, the spokesperson said, "Violence is not the answer for either country."
Washington, she said, has through calls at the ambassadorial level in both countries been "counselling both governments to de-escalate, to work through this issue, to continue the consultations between them at a high level that we understand are ongoing now".
Asked if the US supported a Pakistani move for a third party or UN investigation into the incident, Nuland said it would be best if the two countries could work it out themselves, but if both sides wanted UN support, Washington would back that too.
"India and Pakistan have made pretty good progress in recent years in working through a number of difficult issues, including opening of trade relations," she noted.
"They are now engaged at a high level on these recent incidents. If they can work it out themselves, that's obviously best," she said. But "If both parties were interested in support from the UN, et cetera, we'd obviously support that as well.
"But at the moment, we're urging them to talk to each other," Nuland said.
The spokesperson declined comment into the alleged beheading of two Indian soldiers saying, "I'm not going to get into the specifics here. I think we've spoken to the general principles we want to see here."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was aware of the tension between India and Pakistan on this issue and "instructed our ambassadors to work with both governments, which they are doing", Nuland said.
--With IANS Inputs--
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