Army will retaliate on Pak violations: Antony

• Everything will be done to protect sanctity of the LoC
• Violations take place every year, but now the frequency has increased
  

Anita Saluja

New Delhi: Union Defence Minister A K Antony declared that the Army will take all possible steps to retaliate every Pakistani violations on the Line of Control (LoC). “I assure you that everything will be done to protect the sanctity of the LoC,” Antony said. Responding to clarifications sought on his statement earlier in the day in the Rajya Sabha, Antony said that he was in no position to further elaborate on it. It is one thing to say from the Opposition benches, but being in the Government, the same thing has to be said in a different fashion. The difference is only in the presentation and not in the substance, he emphaised. The Government is fully appreciative of the mood of the nation and he said the whole country is behind the Government resolve to protect the sanctity of the LoC.

Antony said violations take place almost every year. The only difference now is that the frequency has increased. In 2011, there were 61 ceasefire violations and in 2012, it had gone up to 117. Till August this year, it touched 82. From August 6 onwards, 24 violations have taken place, he said.

Antony made it clear to Pakistan that naturally these incidents will have consequences on India’s behavior on the LoC and in the bilateral relations with Pakistan. “Our restraint should not be taken for granted; nor should the capacity of our Armed Forces and resolve of Government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted,” he said.

Making a statement in the Rajya Sabha earlier in the day, Antony demanded that those responsible for the killing of the Indian Army jawans on August 6 and the killing of the two Indian soldiers earlier this year should not go unpunished. “We all know that nothing happens from Pakistan side of the Line of Control without support, assistance, facilitation and often, direct involvement of the Pakistan Army,” he asserted.

Toughening his stand on Pakistan, Antony said, “Pakistan should also show determined action to dismantle the terrorist networks, organizations and infrastructure.”

Antony said when he first reported to Parliament, it was done as part of the Government obligation to report the facts as known at that point of time and based on available information. Since then, Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh visited the area and gone into the details of the matter. It is now clear that the specialist troops of Pakistan were involved in this attack, when a group from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) side crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and killed the brave Indian jawans.

Army chief meets PM

New Delhi (IANS): Indian Army chief General Bikram Singh met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, official sources said. The meeting came in the backdrop of increased ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army at the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. "The army chief met the prime minister. The meeting lasted for 15 minutes."

Meanwhile, describing Kashmir as the ‘jugular vein’ of his country, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said India and Pakistan should join hands to tackle poverty and disease instead of wasting their resources on wars. Kashmir is a ‘national issue and the jugular vein of Pakistan’ and its resolution is as dear to him as other Pakistanis, Sharif said in his first address to the nation since assuming office in June.