Raut said the attack in Uri was well-planned and thought out by Pakistan, adding the Shiv Sena does not consider it a terrorist attack.
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Days after Chaudhry’s invitation, India formally rejected Pakistan’s proposal to hold exclusive talks on the issue of Kashmir and said it will only discuss the issue of terrorism alleged infiltration of militants with Pakistan.
The attack happened in the garrison town of Uri, about 102 kilometers from Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Stung by the deadliest ever attack on the Army in Jammu and Kashmir, DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh today called up his counterpart in Pakistan expressing “serious concerns” over Pakistani markings found on the equipment used by four “foreign” terrorists suspected to be belonging to Pakistan-based terror group JeM.
In an even stronger response, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted: “Pakistan is a terrorist state and should be identified and isolated as such”.
One of the barracks caught fire before the four militants were killed in a gunfight after almost two hours.
Before this attack, 102 people had been killed in separatist attacks in India’s part of the Himalayan region this year.
While paying tributes to the killed soldiers, the Finance Minister said that the Sunday’s incident call for greater preparedness by the Indian forces. “Initial reports indicate that the slain terrorists belong to Jaish-e-Mohammed”.
The last major attack on an Indian military installation was in January when six gunmen entered an air force base in the town of Pathankot in the state of Punjab.
Indian-administered Kashmir has been gripped by unrest for more than two months, with protests that have prompted authorities to issue curfews and lock down large parts of the region.
“Terrible news from Uri, 17 soldiers killed & many injured”.
The Foreign Office earlier this month urged the Indian government to listen to the worldwide community and end bloodshed in IHK and asked the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to IHK in order to investigate human right abuses.
In a strongly worded statement, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the terrorists who carried out the attack in the Army Brigade Headquarters in Uri were highly trained and heavily armed and vowed to hunt down those behind it.
Twenty-eight injured soldiers were airlifted to a military hospital in the region’s main city of Srinagar, four of them in critical condition, an army officer said.
Pakistan is preparing to “forcefully” highlight the situation in IHK at the UNGA, whereas India intends to counter Pakistan’s stance by raising the Balochistan issue, arguing that the Baloch are also seeking independence from Pakistan and deserve global support.
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Uri is near the Line of Control (LoC), which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan. A militant uprising and subsequent army crackdown since 1989 have killed more than 68,000 people.
