Nearly 31 of them were killed while crossing the LoC.
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India on Monday said it firmly believes that a policy of “zero tolerance” against terrorism is as much an worldwide obligation as it is a commitment to its own people, a day after terrorists killed 18 soldiers in Kashmir’s Uri in one of the deadliest attacks on its military.
The newspaper quoted Pakistani security officials as saying that they were “confident” that the Uri attack was a “Pathankot-like stage drama to trumpet its terrorism mantra against Pakistan and counter Islamabad’s diplomatic moves to expose Indian atrocities in Kashmir at a time when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is all set to expose New Delhi at the UN General Assembly session”. Suspected rebels using guns and grenades sneaked into the crucia.
The report comes at a time when former Indian Army Chief Shankar Roy Choudhury is calling on the Indian government to raise “Fidayeen” – suicide squads – following the Uri attack. We are also concerned about the fact that, according to New Delhi, the army base near Uri was attacked from Pakistani territory.
Many agree that India’s response must be measured.
Early Sunday, fighters slipped into an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 15 soldiers.
“India firmly believes that a policy of zero tolerance to terrorism is as much an global obligation as it is a commitment to our own people”, India said in its statement under the Agenda Item 4 during the 33rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council here.
The Indian army has reportedly resolved to use concentrated artillery barrages and sniping operations and has formally requested the Modi government to consider cross-border adventure to send a message to Pakistan, which it holds responsible for the attack.
Fali Homi Major, the then-air force chief, had told the Prime Minister he was prepared to strike inside Pakistan, but could not do so because the intelligence services could not provide adequate digital data on Lashkar camps.
Ram Madhav, the party’s general secretary, said India needed to hit back hard.
Surjewala wondered that while Modi has said that the attack won’t go unpunished, “will he traverse the distance from rhetoric to reality by firm & appropriate response?”
On a day that saw emotions running high as numerous 18 soldiers who died in Sunday’s attack were bid farewell with military honours in various parts of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi summoned a meeting of senior ministers and military and security advisers to formulate an appropriate response. It was the biggest attack on a military camp in Kashmir in a decade.
More than 80 people have been killed in clashes between residents and security forces.
Several rebel groups have for decades fought Indian soldiers – now numbering around 500,000 – deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the region or its merger with Pakistan.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two over Kashmir.
At the United Nations, the two countries are expected to raise the alleged rights violations in Kashmir and Balochistan.
“China opposes and strongly condemns all forms of terrorism”, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang. Later in the day, the Prime Minister also met President Pranab Mukherjee and briefed him on the incident.
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“The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in hinterland”.
