New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Tuesday said flag meetings between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers were important to ease border tension between India and Pakistan.

Speaking after meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Abdullah said that in a tense environment when official talks looked bleak, flag meetings could play a very crucial role in bringing peace.

"I have heard that commanders of both the countries have talked on the hotline. I welcome this development. It is good that a channel of communication has opened between the two countries," he said. "This will only benefit the people."

Abdullah said the state government had been repeatedly stressing that the 2003 ceasefire should be maintained on the Kashmir border.

"Only those living on the border areas know what they have to go through every time the ceasefire is violated, Sadly, this time civilians were targeted deliberately," he said.

Eight people were killed and 62 injured since Oct 6 when Pakistan resorted to unprecedented targeting of civilian habitations close to the Jammu and Kashmir border.