Pakistan Today

Surgical strike or cross border firing?

Questions arise as Indian media makes bizarre claims

 

Pakistan acted with sobriety and responsibility while responding to the latest Indian provocation. The ISPR contradicted the Indian claim of conducting a surgical strike last night across the LoC.  It maintained that India had only indulged in cross border firing apparently to appease its hardliners. The firing killed two army men and wounded nine on this side of the LoC.  Defence Minister Khwaja Asif warned that if India tried to resort to an action of the sort again, Pakistan would respond forcefully.

 

It had been claimed by the Indian DGMO that the operation had caused significant casualties to terrorists and those shielding them.  According to him the target was  launch pads across the LoC where terrorists were present waiting to infiltrate inside India.  While the DGMO did not provide details, Indian media has made bizarre claims. It reported that the terror launch pads targeted were in the range of 2 to 3km from the LoC and were under surveillance for over one week. Further, that the operation was a combination of heliborne and ground forces and that special Forces of the Army were para-dropped for the operation.

 

One wonders if what is being called a surgical strike was in fact cross border firing. Even so, the Indian action has considerably added to the already existing tension between the two countries. That the administration of Indian Punjab ordered the evacuation of villages in a 10-km belt along the border with Pakistan further illustrates the deepening crisis. The news sent tremors through Indian markets, with the country’s benchmark stock index, the Sensex, plunging 555 points, or nearly 2 percent. India undertook the cross border activity despite advice by the US and China to resolve differences with Pakistan through talks. US Secretary of State John Kerry had reportedly spoken to the Indian foreign minister twice only two days prior to the incident offering the same advice. There is a need on the part of India to avoid escalating the ceiling beyond which Pakistan will be forced to respond.

 

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