New Delhi: India summoned a senior official of the Pakistan high commission to lodge a “strong protest” over the deaths of three Indian soldiers during an infiltration bid by Pakistani terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Ministry condemned in the strongest terms such provocative action by Pakistan, which reveals their complicity in aiding and abetting terrorism and exposes the hollowness of Pakistan’s deceitful claims to promote constructive engagement and desire for peace,” said a statement issued by Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday (October 23).
Without taking names, the MEA said that a “senior official” was summoned, and a démarche lodged over the killing of three Indian soldiers during an “attempted cross border infiltration on 21 October 2018 by Pakistani terrorists in Sunderbani Sector in Jammu and Kashmir”. The official who was summoned was likely the minister (political) in the high commission, Abdul Hameed.
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“It was informed that two Pakistani armed intruders have been killed by the Indian security forces during the ensuing firefight and the government of Pakistan should take custody of the dead bodies of its nationals,” the MEA said.
India also conveyed “grave concern” over the continuing incidents of unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Pakistani forces along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB).
“Despite repeated calls for restraint and adherence to the ceasefire understanding of 2003 for maintaining peace and tranquillity, Pakistan forces have carried out 1,591 incidents of unprovoked ceasefire violations along the LoC and IB in 2018 so far,” the MEA said.
Pakistan was also asked to abide by its bilateral commitment not to allow any territory under its control to be used for supporting terrorism against India in any manner, it added.
Earlier this morning, the Indian Army’s Director General of Military Operations called up his counterpart to express “serious concern” over the attack.
While the Indian statement described the intruders as “Pakistani terrorists”, Indian army officials have said off-the-record that they believe that they were members of the Border Action Team comprising Pakistani soldiers and trained militants.
A day earlier, on Monday, India had criticised Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s tweet on a “new cycle of killings” in Kashmir, retorting that Pakistan needs to address its own internal issues.