Pak army denies killings; Khurshid condemns action
10 Jan 2013 7:44 AM IST
The Pakistani military on Wednesday rejected India’s contention that its troops had attacked an Indian patrol and killed two soldiers, claiming that it had carried out ground verification and ‘found nothing of this sort happened’.
The Pakistani side conveyed this during a phone conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two sides. A Pakistani military official, who did not want to be named, said Pakistan’s DGMO Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem spoke to his Indian counterpart Lt General Vinod Bhatia on a hotline and rejected the Indian army’s ‘allegations of cross-LoC firing by Pakistani troops and killing any Indian soldier’.
‘The Indian authorities were informed that Pakistan has carried out ground verification and found nothing of this sort happened as is being alleged,’ the official said.
The Pakistani military had on Tuesday rejected the Indian army’s contention that Pak troops had killed two Indian soldiers after crossing the LoC, saying the accusation was aimed at diverting attention from another incident over the weekend.
Meanwhile, India on Wednesday strongly protested to Pakistan, warning that the ‘unacceptable’ incident will have adverse impact on the ties’.
Pakistan high commissioner Salman Bashir was summoned by foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, who conveyed India’s ‘deepest concern and protest’ over the attack.
Shortly after that, External Affairs minister Salman Khurshid said the mutilation of the soldiers was ‘an extremely sensitive matter’. Bashir was ‘spoken to in very strong terms’, Khurshid said. Pakistan was also asked to investigate these actions that are in contravention of all norms of international conduct and ensure that these do not recur.
Referring to last month’s Indo-Pak discussions on CBMs, wherein maintaining the sanctity of the LoC, Khurshid said, ‘therefore violation of (ceasefire) that itself is something which is a matter of great concern. And that would obviously, have adverse impact on what we have been trying to do.’
The Pakistani side conveyed this during a phone conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two sides. A Pakistani military official, who did not want to be named, said Pakistan’s DGMO Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem spoke to his Indian counterpart Lt General Vinod Bhatia on a hotline and rejected the Indian army’s ‘allegations of cross-LoC firing by Pakistani troops and killing any Indian soldier’.
‘The Indian authorities were informed that Pakistan has carried out ground verification and found nothing of this sort happened as is being alleged,’ the official said.
The Pakistani military had on Tuesday rejected the Indian army’s contention that Pak troops had killed two Indian soldiers after crossing the LoC, saying the accusation was aimed at diverting attention from another incident over the weekend.
Meanwhile, India on Wednesday strongly protested to Pakistan, warning that the ‘unacceptable’ incident will have adverse impact on the ties’.
Pakistan high commissioner Salman Bashir was summoned by foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, who conveyed India’s ‘deepest concern and protest’ over the attack.
Shortly after that, External Affairs minister Salman Khurshid said the mutilation of the soldiers was ‘an extremely sensitive matter’. Bashir was ‘spoken to in very strong terms’, Khurshid said. Pakistan was also asked to investigate these actions that are in contravention of all norms of international conduct and ensure that these do not recur.
Referring to last month’s Indo-Pak discussions on CBMs, wherein maintaining the sanctity of the LoC, Khurshid said, ‘therefore violation of (ceasefire) that itself is something which is a matter of great concern. And that would obviously, have adverse impact on what we have been trying to do.’
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