rashtriya.rifles
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ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: A Pakistani soldier was killed on Thursday as Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy fire in the afternoon in what marked the fourth violation of the ceasefire along the Line of Control in the past 10 days.
Pakistan said its soldier Havildar Mohyuddin was killed as a result of what it alleged was "unprovoked" Indian shelling in the Battal sector. The Indian side suffered no casualty in the latest round of cross-border firing which took place just a little distance away from the spot in the Mendhar sector where two Indian soldiers were brutally killed on Tuesday.
"On Thursday, Pakistan began the firing at about 4.30pm. We gave a measured response. The firing continued for around 100 minutes. There was no casualty on our side ... we don't know about the other side," a senior officer said.
Sources said the beheading of an Indian soldier of the 13 Rajputana Rifles on Tuesday (January 8) has inflamed passions in the Army. "It has become a matter of izzat (honour)," a senior officer said, indicating that the force would hit back at Pakistan at a place and time of its choosing. The honour of the platoon (paltan in Army lingo) and their regiment can become the driver in conflict situations, often trumping other considerations.
The exchange of heavy fire, with 81mm mortars and heavy machine-guns, marked the fourth violation of the ceasefire in the past 10 days, coming after the first three violations at Krishnaghati, Rampur and Mendhar.
Thursday's clash was a confirmation, with Indian jawans seething with anger over the killing of their comrades and brutalization of their bodies, that the already volatile Line of Control will remain red-hot at least in the near-term.
As hostilities escalated between the two armies ranged against each other along the 778-km LoC, New Delhi rejected with utter disdain Islamabad's move to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) about the January 6 cross-border LoC firing, which left one Pakistani soldier dead.
After a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting chaired by PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday, finance minister P Chidambaram said, "We are certainly not going to agree to internationalize the issue or allow the UN to hold an inquiry. That demand is obviously rejected out of hand."
India has maintained since the Shimla agreement in 1972 that the ceasefire line was no longer governed by the earlier Karachi Agreement, and consequently UNMOGIP had lost its earlier mandate to look into ceasefire violations. A dismissive national security advisor Shivshankar Menon said, "UNMOGIP still exists? I thought they do not have a role."
The beheading of Indian soldiers has inflamed passions focusing attention on Pakistan's sincerity towards its professed aspiration for peace, but the Line of Control has been tense through 2012 because of a spurt in violations of ceasefire by Pakistan.
The ceasefire which came into force in November 2003 along the 198-km International Border in J&K, the 778-km LoC and the 150-km Actual Ground Position Line in Siachen was violated by Pakistan as many as 117 times in 2012. This represented a major jump in the number of violations which stood at just 61 in 2011, as earlier reported by TOI.
Although the flare-up of tensions on the border is unlikely to lead to the derailment of the peace process, India expects Pakistan to investigate the killing of Indian soldiers and bring the guilty to justice. Foreign minister Salman Khurshid had on Wednesday said the killing should not lead to an escalation, but stressed that India expects Pakistan to investigate the matter and bring the guilty to justice.
NSA Menon made it plain that the Manmohan Singh government was going to press on with the peace process. "The government has said what it has to say on the event. You have a selection of adjectives - reprehensible, barbaric, dastardly, whatever you want. Sadly, it is not the first time this has happened. I hope it never happens again. But we have also told you exactly what we intend to do. So, now I think you should let the government go about its business," Menon said.
But he acknowledged that there had been an increase in both infiltration and ceasefire violations. "There has been an increase in ceasefire violations. There been an increase in infiltration attempts, not only in the last few months. In 2012 there was an increase overall over 2011. That is a fact and that is something we are dealing with, both ourselves and with the Pakistani authorities," he said.
Pakistani soldier killed in renewed bout of hostilities along LoC - The Times of India
Pakistan said its soldier Havildar Mohyuddin was killed as a result of what it alleged was "unprovoked" Indian shelling in the Battal sector. The Indian side suffered no casualty in the latest round of cross-border firing which took place just a little distance away from the spot in the Mendhar sector where two Indian soldiers were brutally killed on Tuesday.
"On Thursday, Pakistan began the firing at about 4.30pm. We gave a measured response. The firing continued for around 100 minutes. There was no casualty on our side ... we don't know about the other side," a senior officer said.
Sources said the beheading of an Indian soldier of the 13 Rajputana Rifles on Tuesday (January 8) has inflamed passions in the Army. "It has become a matter of izzat (honour)," a senior officer said, indicating that the force would hit back at Pakistan at a place and time of its choosing. The honour of the platoon (paltan in Army lingo) and their regiment can become the driver in conflict situations, often trumping other considerations.
The exchange of heavy fire, with 81mm mortars and heavy machine-guns, marked the fourth violation of the ceasefire in the past 10 days, coming after the first three violations at Krishnaghati, Rampur and Mendhar.
Thursday's clash was a confirmation, with Indian jawans seething with anger over the killing of their comrades and brutalization of their bodies, that the already volatile Line of Control will remain red-hot at least in the near-term.
As hostilities escalated between the two armies ranged against each other along the 778-km LoC, New Delhi rejected with utter disdain Islamabad's move to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) about the January 6 cross-border LoC firing, which left one Pakistani soldier dead.
After a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting chaired by PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday, finance minister P Chidambaram said, "We are certainly not going to agree to internationalize the issue or allow the UN to hold an inquiry. That demand is obviously rejected out of hand."
India has maintained since the Shimla agreement in 1972 that the ceasefire line was no longer governed by the earlier Karachi Agreement, and consequently UNMOGIP had lost its earlier mandate to look into ceasefire violations. A dismissive national security advisor Shivshankar Menon said, "UNMOGIP still exists? I thought they do not have a role."
The beheading of Indian soldiers has inflamed passions focusing attention on Pakistan's sincerity towards its professed aspiration for peace, but the Line of Control has been tense through 2012 because of a spurt in violations of ceasefire by Pakistan.
The ceasefire which came into force in November 2003 along the 198-km International Border in J&K, the 778-km LoC and the 150-km Actual Ground Position Line in Siachen was violated by Pakistan as many as 117 times in 2012. This represented a major jump in the number of violations which stood at just 61 in 2011, as earlier reported by TOI.
Although the flare-up of tensions on the border is unlikely to lead to the derailment of the peace process, India expects Pakistan to investigate the killing of Indian soldiers and bring the guilty to justice. Foreign minister Salman Khurshid had on Wednesday said the killing should not lead to an escalation, but stressed that India expects Pakistan to investigate the matter and bring the guilty to justice.
NSA Menon made it plain that the Manmohan Singh government was going to press on with the peace process. "The government has said what it has to say on the event. You have a selection of adjectives - reprehensible, barbaric, dastardly, whatever you want. Sadly, it is not the first time this has happened. I hope it never happens again. But we have also told you exactly what we intend to do. So, now I think you should let the government go about its business," Menon said.
But he acknowledged that there had been an increase in both infiltration and ceasefire violations. "There has been an increase in ceasefire violations. There been an increase in infiltration attempts, not only in the last few months. In 2012 there was an increase overall over 2011. That is a fact and that is something we are dealing with, both ourselves and with the Pakistani authorities," he said.
Pakistani soldier killed in renewed bout of hostilities along LoC - The Times of India
