Indian Army on Monday instituted an inquiry into the attack as preliminary investigations suggested the terrorists had entered the area at least a day before mounting the brazen assault.
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India says it will launch a diplomatic offensive against Islamabad and step up pressure to isolate Pakistan at worldwide gatherings.
Domestically, Modi is under pressure from opposition parties to live up to his 2014 election campaign promise of acting tough on Pakistan.
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called an emergency meeting of top defense officials and blamed Pakistan for the attack.
“After the previous attack in Pathankot, the Indian government’s response was measured and reasonable”, said Ashok Malik, a fellow with the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
Geneva: India on Monday said it firmly believes that a policy of “zero tolerance” against terrorism is as much an global obligation as it is a commitment to its own people, a day after terrorists killed 18 soldiers in Kashmir in one of the deadliest attacks on its military.
“I extend condolences to the family and friends of the soldiers who lost their lives in the attack”, Warner said.
“The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in the hinterland”, he said at a media briefing Monday.
Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has said that the armed forces of Pakistan are fully equipped and prepared to respond to the entire spectrum of direct and indirect threats.
“We believe that this criminal act will be investigated properly, and that its organisers and perpetrators will be held accountable”.
Led by Islamist hardliner Maulana Masood Azhar from Pakistan’s Punjab province, Jaish-e-Mohammed was blamed for the January air base raid as well as a 2001 attack on India’s parliament that almost led to war. More than ever before, we remain at the side of our strategic partner, India, for fighting this scourge.
At the NAM summit, one of the 120 member-states scuttled India’s proposal for creating a working group against terrorism. “Since becoming the Prime Minister of the country, Modi has indulged in saree-shawl diplomacy to impromptu visits to Pakistan to attend wedding celebrations and birthday parties with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif”, he said. “Nothing can justify terrorism, which must be combated everywhere with the same determination”. President Mamnoon Hussain called upon the worldwide community to urge India to immediately put an end to atrocities against innocent Kashmiris and impress upon India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations resolutions for durable peace in the region.
“The statement is part of a pattern to mislead world opinion and cover up India’s reign of terror in (Jammu and Kashmir)”. Beijing said though that it was shocked by the attack.
India has reacted strongly to the deadliest attack on the army in Jammu and Kashmir that sparked an outrage with the prime minister strongly condemning it. “We are appalled by these attacks and stand with the Government of India in the fight against terrorism”, he added.
A swift, surgical strike on terror camps in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK) were among the options that figured in the speculation but experts also cautioned against the consequences and damages that an escalation could pose if it went out of hand.
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Many countries, including the United States, Britain and Bangladesh, as well as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, have condemned the attack.
