New Delhi: The brutal killing of two Indian soldiers on the Kashmir border sparked a flurry of activity on Tuesday, with India’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) telephoning his Pakistani counterpart and home minister Rajnath Singh meeting Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra to discuss the security situation.
A day earlier, the Indian Army had said that a jawan and a Border Security Force (BSF) head constable were killed and their bodies mutilated by the Pakistan military, after the latter opened fire along the Krishna Ghati sector in J&K’s Poonch district earlier in the day.
While the DGMO, in a statement, raised the issue of Pakistan’s border action teams maintaining their training camps close to the LoC (Line of Control) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the Directorate of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan issued a statement rejecting the Indian Army’s claims, stating, “Pakistan Army is a highly professional force and shall never disrespect a soldier even Indian.”
“Indian Director General of Military Operations spoke to his counterpart in Pakistan and expressed grave concern about the incident of 1 May 2017 in Krishna Ghati sector opposite PoK Battal, wherein Pakistani Army targeted Indian patrol on Indian side of LoC and mutilated bodies of two soldiers. The Pakistani DGMO was also apprised that while undertaking this dastardly act, full fire support was provided by Pakistani Army Post located in vicinity of the incident site,” the Indian Army said in the statement.
Even as the Army and the BSF laid to rest the soldiers on Tuesday morning, the DGMO said in a statement such inhuman acts were “beyond any norms of civility and merit unequivocal condemnation and response.”
“Such war crimes are against the Geneva Convention, which prohibits atrocities,” said former Army officer and defence expert Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman. “But these charges can’t be proven because it’s one army’s word against the other. These are barbaric acts and naturally, the Pakistan Army will deny these charges made by the Indian Army.”
Meanwhile, J&K governor Vohra and home minister Singh discussed the turmoil in the valley in a meeting that lasted close to 45 minutes. The meeting comes just a week after state chief minister Mehbooba Mufti met Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 24 April. The ongoing strife in Kashmir has led to the Election Commission calling off the Anantnag polls that had earlier been deferred to 25 May.
While Singh and Vohra were said to have also raised the issue of Indian soldiers being mutilated by the Paksitan military, the continuing unrest in Kashmir was the main item on the agenda.
“The two met to primarily discuss the situation in Kashmir—the incidents of infiltration and gunbattles with the security forces, the resistance put up by the separatist leaders and the ongoing issue of stone-pelting by students,” said a senior home ministry official, requesting anonymity.