DGMOs accuse each other of violating ceasefire; India puts off flag meeting
In the midst of continued ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the International Border and line of Control (loC) in Jammu & Kashmir, India and Pakistan traded charges over the explosive situation on the two borders.
Toughening its stand, India on Tuesday put off a proposal for a flag meeting at the last minute and decided to observe Pakistan’s behaviour in the coming days before any engagement at the commander-level along the border in Jammu & Kashmir.
While Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries held talks on the hotline on Tuesday and accused each other of violating the ceasefire, the three service chiefs briefed Defence Minister Arun Jaitley about the overall security situation along the two borders.
Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Navy chief Admiral R Dhowan and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha informed Jaitley about the operational preparedness and the steps taken to give a fitting reply to Pakistan.
The decision to put off the flag meeting is seen as a clear message to Pakistan that India was ready to give it a tough response if the ceasefire violations continue. Earlier, a message was sent to BSF Director General DK Pathak to seek a commander-level flag meeting to de-escalate the tension. A senior Home Ministry official said the plan was dropped at the last minute and it was decided to “observe the behaviour of Pakistan” in the coming days before making any such overtures.
Ruling out any possibility of holding a flag meeting, officials said Pakistan violated the ceasefire and India has no obligation to agree to such an engagement at this point. Pakistan was asked to exercise restraint and not escalate tension on the loC and International Border, officials said. On the other hand, Pakistan complained India was the first one to violate the ceasefire and nine civilians in two villages in Sialkot were killed.
In the talks between officials of DGMOs, while Pakistan claimed India was responsible for the unprovoked firing in which nine civilians were killed in Sialkot across Jammu, India said Pakistan started the firing and said it would give a befitting reply at the “time of its choosing.”
Raising the issue of violations during the seven-minute talks at 11.30 am, the Indian side brought up the unabated firing and targeting of civilians. Pakistan was then warned that “India will give appropriate, effective and immediate response and reserved the right to carry out actions at a time and place of India’s choosing,” officials said.
Meanwhile, while calling upon the Indian Government to immediately cease fire and shelling, Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to the Pakistani Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, in a statement said: “The Government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been exercising utmost restraint and responsibility…We hope that the Indian side would give peace a chance. Ceasefire at the loC and the Working Boundary must be preserved in the larger interest of the region and the peoples of the two countries. Unfortunately, all our efforts to secure peace and tranquility on the loC and the Working Boundary have elicited no cooperation from the Indian side.”
Elaborating upon the latest bout of ceasefire violations, officials said it was possible that Pakistan nursed a grudge since August when the Indian Army and BSF reacted strongly to firing from across the border. “Perhaps, the other side had a sense of resentment since then,” officials said adding even then the Indian DGMO was firm in putting across his point of view while talking with his Pakistani counterpart.
Given this background, Pakistan has so far carried out a well-planned, systematic and structured pattern of firing on Indian positions besides targeting hamlets along the International Border and loC, sources said. Pakistan Rangers and Army were now using 80mm mortars and small arms including medium machine guns and the Indian security forces were giving adequate response, they said.
lashkar-e-Taiba militants were working alongside Pakistan Rangers and Pakistan Army in stepping up infiltration bids besides firing on Indian posts all along the loC and International Border, they said.
Incidentally, 125 ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the loC have taken place this year as compared to 165 for the corresponding period last year, they said. last year, more than 200 violations had taken place and most of them took place in August and September after the Pakistani troops killed five Indian Army soldiers in a cross-border raid in Poonch. Tension eased only after then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart Nawaz Sharif met in October on the sidelines of a UN Summit.
On the overall situation in Jammu & Kashmir, officials said about 350 to 450 well trained terrorists were waiting to sneak into Kashmir Valley while 250 to 300 were waiting to infiltrate into Jammu division, including Poonch and Rajouri. Moreover, 1,000 militants were lodged in 20 terrorist training camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and at least 40 launch pads close to the loC were active. These pads are used for pushing in militants into Kashmir.
According to reports, infiltration bids were on in areas like Gurez, Macchi, Karan and Tangdhar sectors of North Kashmir and the security forces had killed 17 terrorists while they were trying to infiltrate, officials said.
With a window of three to four weeks left before snow blocks all ingress routes, militants were also carrying lots of arms and ammunition as was evident during two encounters in the recent days in Tangdhar.
Explaining the significance of this fact, sources said terrorists and their guides were carrying more than double the load of weapons and ammunition as the security forces had recovered several caches of arms within the Valley. These recoveries had dried up the logistic support to the militants and they were forced to smuggle arms from across the loC.
With escalation of tension on the border and casualties of civilians on the Indian side by unprovoked shelling in the civilian town of Arnia, India has retaliated in full measure causing heavy casualties, mostly of Pakistan Army and Pakistan Rangers’ personnel.
Top Government sources said 15 to 20 Pakistan armed forces’ personnel have been killed in retaliatory firing by the Indian security forces. Another 40 people have been injured in the retaliatory fire by India. The Army and BSF have also inflicted massive destruction of Pakistan forces’ infrastructure.