India's DGMO speaks to Pak counterpart

A top military commander on Thursday conveyed India’s concerns on the movements of terrorists across the Line of Control to Pakistan Army officials.

They also discussed the return of two Pakistani students who strayed into Indian
territory almost six months ago.

Lt Gen A K Bhatt, Indian Army Director General of Military Operations, spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza to express “concerns regarding the movement of terrorists noticed along the Line of Control,” army sources said here.

The conversation on the hotline between the two DGMOs comes at a time when the army was battling militants in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. In the recent months, the northern state witnessed a series of audacious terror strikes, beginning with the attack on an army installation in Uri last September.

The India-Pakistan border remained in a red-hot state for most of 2016, recording close to 225 ceasefire violations along the LoC and international boundary.

In comparison, the number of violations in 2014 and 2015 were 153 and 152, respectively.

The coming summer adds to the worries of the Indian army commanders because more passes in the higher reaches would open up with the melting of snow, luring militants who are waiting to infiltrate.

Army officials later asserted that Lt Gen Bhatt shared specific inputs with Maj Gen Mirza about Pakistani forces training terrorists and planning cross-border raids.