Indian army on Saturday demanded a flag meeting between respective rival brigade commanders of Pakistan and India deployed along the Poonch sector of the Line of Control, which continues to remain “hot” following accusations of LOC violations from both sides.
An Indian army man told the Indian media that the LOC had been breached five times in the last 11 days and troops of both India and Pakistan had stepped up their “alertness levels along the 778 KM stretch of the line of control.”Patrols and sentries have been doubled, snipers are also keeping a close eye on the posts across the border to take out any mischief-makers”, said another Indian officer. T S Sandhu, who has three battalions under him including the 13 Rajputana Rifles, said “ “we have asked the Pakistani army, over the hotline, for an immediate brigade-level flag meeting at Poonch-Rawalkot. We want to lodge another strong protest as well as discuss other issues during it. The pakistanis have not yet responded.” The Indian side is scheduled to be led by the 10 Krishnaghati’ Brigade commander T S Sandhu.
Earlier, Indian media reports stated that heavy fire-fight on Thursday lasted for more than five hours in the Krishnaghati area, with Pakistan firing four rounds of its heaviest 82mm mortar apart from heavy machine guns. India launched “retaliatory fire assaults” in response to Pakistani firing on nine Indian forward posts, the reports added. The Indian Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lt General Vinod Bhatia, has been asked to keep in touch with his Pakistani counterpart, and the government was “awaiting the outcome of their talks” said a spokesman of Indian defense ministry.
Indian Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, who is also the country’s senior-most military officer and serving as chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, said that ceasefire violations, intrusions and infiltration bids had sharply escalated over the last ten months. He concluded that “It’s a matter of concern. We are keeping the whole situation under close watch”.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary-Information Shafqat Mahmood on Saturday said that the PTI was gravely concerned regarding the deteriorating situation at the LoC and denounced unprovoked attacks by the Indian forces. He said that the inflammatory role played by Indian media could derail the ongoing peace efforts between Pakistan and India. He said that “In the past few days, there have been repeated incidents of aggression by the Indian Army resulting in the martyrdom of Pakistani soldiers. This unprovoked aggression by Indian forces is against the spirit of the peace process initiated between the two countries and is condemned in the strongest possible terms. Our chairman, Imran Khan has expressed deepest sympathies on his behalf and on behalf of his party with the families of the martyrs and prayed that may Allah give them the strength to bear this irreparable loss. At a time when every effort should be made on both sides to exercise restraint, such a role by the Indian media is inflammatory and counter productive. The Pakistani media on the other hand has played a more responsible role and while critical of provocations by the Indian army, exercised restraint in its discourse,”
Moreover, Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare reacted to the Indian media’s accusations against the Pakistan army by stating that “India should retaliate in kind and wage a full fledged war against Pakistan. What they have done is simply unacceptable. How can they mutilate and take away the head of our soldier? This can not be tolerated by any sane person. Pakistan seems to have forgotten the beating it took in the 1965 war with India. Don’t they remember how they begged for mercy when Lahore was bombed during that war? We want a repeat of 1965. Pakistan should be taught a lesson again”. Anna passed these remarks during a two day camp organized by Bhrashtachar Viridhi jan Andolan, reported the Indian express. Former Indian army chief V K Singh was also present at the camp but refused to comment on the Indian accusations that Pakistani soldiers had killed and mutilated two Indian Lance Naiks; Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackrey said “send the Indian army inside Pakistan and take revenge for the incident. Only then it will it be a tribute to the martyrdom of the soldiers. Bharatiya janta Party (BJP) leader Sushma Sawaraj criticized the congress leadership for being docile on the development and said that “I spoke to national security advisor SS Menon. I told him to convey to Manmohan that what has happened at the LOC is unacceptable. However, there has been no response from the government so far as we have a weak government and weak governments cannot take tough decisions.
Refuting speculations that the ongoing peace process would be derailed by the latest developments at LoC, Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Sindhe said that India would not cancel the new visa agreement it had ratified with Pakistan. Shinde however, alleged that Hafiz Saeed was present in the periphery of Haji Pir a few days ago and said that “involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) could not be ruled out”. Meanwhile India declined Pakistan’s offer of settling the dispute of LOC violation in the UN. Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram said “the demand is rejected out of hand. We will not internationalise the issue nor go to the UN”. Pakistan’s Foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar commenting on the development said that “ we have offered a joint investigation and a neutral international investigation too. What more can we offer?”
The Pakistani army is alleged by the Indian media of coming 100 meters into India unprovoked and killing two of its soldiers. However, on Wednesday, the Indian army had violated the Pakistan territory and martyred a Pakistani soldier.
