Modi stoked India’s LoC aggression

• According to report, Indian Home Ministry official says Modi’s office instructed them to ensure Pakistan suffers deep and heavy losses
• Indian troops open unprovoked firing in Harpal, Charwa sector, Pakistani forces retaliate
• PM Adviser Sartaj Aziz writes letter to UN calling for resolution of Kashmir dispute

Political and military officers in Pakistan and India and officials in New Delhi have said that ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir have escalated because of a more assertive Indian posture after India’s nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office, International Business Times reported Sunday.

Responding to what Pakistan asserts are deliberate and unprovoked violations of the ceasefire, Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has sent a letter to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underlining the need to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council. The letter also recalls the role and responsibility of the UN and the international community in this regard.

In the letter to UNSG, Aziz said that India escalated the situation along the LoC and persistent shelling and firing by Indian forces resulted in heavy civilian casualties on the Pakistan side.

The letter states that while exercising its right to self-defence, Pakistan has exercised restraint and the Pakistani government “hopes that better sense would prevail on the Indian side to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control”.

Meanwhile, as 1,000 Indian mortars rained into Pakistan, Modi said Thursday that “it is the enemy that is screaming”. “The enemy has realised that times have changed and their old habits will not be tolerated.”

Modi’s rough stance is substantiated by a senior Indian Home Ministry official’s statement in Business Times’ report which reads, “The PM’s office has instructed us to ensure that Pakistan suffers deep and heavy losses.”

“The top brass has taken a tough stand against Pakistan and the tone is very different from the previous government,” said the Indian Home Ministry official.

At a time when the Pakistan army is combating militants in the tribal areas in its northwest they do not want the distraction of battling India on its eastern flank.

“India is deliberately putting pressure on Pakistani security forces by opening this new front,” said a senior Pakistani military official posted on the border, according to the report. “The message from India is clear–we will teach you a lesson.”

Indians in the border areas of Kashmir have also noticed a change in tactics by the Indian forces.

“Pakistan fires one, our boys fire six back,” said Atma Ram, who was standing about 300 meters from the electrified fence that separates the two countries in Suchetgarh area near Jammu.

A CHANGE IN POLICY?

Since Modi’s election victory, military commanders have been encouraged to step up border patrols and retaliate with more force if they come under attack. New Delhi has insisted there can be no talks with Pakistan unless it ends shootings and pushing militants into the Indian side of Kashmir.

“This is what we feared would happen if Modi came to power,” said Ikram Sehgal, a former Pakistani military officer, as narrated in the news report.

“This could easily escalate into something that would not be good for Pakistan or India.”

Modi’s robust approach towards Pakistan, supporters say, is aimed at emphasising India’s superior strength and making Pakistan’s military think twice before firing across the border.

Officials say India’s new policy is being orchestrated by Ajit Doval, the country’s national security adviser, a former intelligence official who has long advocated tough action against Pakistan-based militants.

In August, Doval gave a free hand to the ground commanders in Jammu, a top security official in the region said. Until then, the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) had complained that instructions on how to respond to provocations were unclear.

POLICY APPEARS CONTRADICTORY:

However, in his letter to the UN, Doval’s counterpart Aziz has asserted that India has adopted a policy that runs counter to its stated desire to engage in a serious bilateral dialogue with Pakistan, adding that India called off the Foreign Secretary level talks with Pakistan.

Aziz pointed out that Kashmir dispute is one of the longest outstanding issues on the agenda of the UN Security Council and that the UNSC had resolved to hold a plebiscite in occupied Kashmir, under the auspices of the UN, to grant Kashmiris the right to self-determination. The resolution stands valid but unimplemented to date, he said.

Aziz said that for decades, Pakistan has been reminding the UN and the international community to fulfil that promise, in the interest of durable peace and security in the region and that PM Sharif had also emphasised in the UN General Assembly that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir needed to be resolved.

The PM had also reiterated Pakistan’s readiness to work for resolution of this issue through negotiations, stated Aziz.

CROSS-BORDER FIRING CONTINUES:

In the meanwhile, Indian forces resorted to firing and shelling in Harpal and Charwa sectors of the Sialkot Working Boundary on Sunday morning, creating panic among the locals.

According to military officials, Pakistani forces responded effectively, adding that Indian firing continued intermittently throughout the night and was still going on.