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Indian Army reserves right to retaliate: DGMO to Pak counterpart

Pak foreign office summons Indian High Commissioner
Last Updated 22 September 2017, 17:08 IST

Indian Army on Friday sternly told the Pakistan Army that while India reserved the right to retaliate to unprovoked firing from across the border, Indian troops don't target the civilians intentionally.

“Indian Army is a professional Army and reserves the right to retaliate appropriately to any incident leading to loss of life of our troop. The army is sincere in its efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Line of Control, provided there was a reciprocal effort from Pakistan,” Lt Gen A K Bhatt, India's director general of military operation told his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza

The military commander emphasised that no targeted firing on civilians was carried out by the Indian troops.

However, in Islamabad, acting Foreign Secretary Aitzaz Ahmed summoned Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale over "unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces" on Thursday in the Charwa Sector in which six Pakistani civilians including four women were killed.

The Indian firing, Ahmed claimed, injured 26 others including 15 women and five children in Bini Sulariyan village.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws," according to a PTI report from Islamabad, quoting a spokesperson for the Pakistan’s foreign office.

But Lt Gen Bhatt made it clear to the Pakistani commander that cease fire violations in the Jammu sector were initiated by Pakistan Rangers and Border Security Force troops only responded appropriately.

The BSF firings, he said, were targeted to armed intruders, attempting to infiltrate from the close proximity of Pakistan posts near the Amritsar border.

The two military commanders had an unscheduled telephonic talk using the hotline that exists between the two Army establishments. The request for the conversation came from the Pakistan side.

Lt Gen Bhatt said the trend of infiltration along the Line of Control continued with the active support of Pakistan's forward posts impacting the peace and tranquillity near the disputed border as well as the internal security of the country.

This was evident from continued attempts of sniping and targeting of Indian troops undertaken through cross-border actions duly supported by Pakistan Army troops, said an Indian Army press statement, quoting the DGMO.

The last one year was the one of the bloodiest in Jammu and Kashmir with a high death toll for the terrorists and security personnel. The number of ceasefire violation crossed 450 by the third week of September as against 228 such firings in 2016.

An Indian soldier was killed by Pakistani firing near the Line of Control in Keran sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. A day later, Pakistani troops targeted Indian border outposts and villages along the international border in Jammu and Samba districts, injuring three civilians.
 

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(Published 22 September 2017, 11:08 IST)

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