Ceasefire violations: BJP for strong retaliatory measures against Pakistan

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday lashed out at Pakistan for raking up bilateral issues at the global level, and asked New Delhi to give a befitting reply to Islamabad on the repeated ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC).

BJP leader Captain Abhimanyu said India had expected the new government in Pakistan to have a changed mindset.

"But, our fears have come true, that it is the Pakistan establishment, be it a democratically elected government, be it the military, or be it the non-state actors in Pakistan, that there is continuity, there is a consistency in their policy on India. And, all this raking up of bilateral issues at the international level and ceasefire violations are actually part and process of this entire bigger game plan that Pakistan has for India," said Captain Abhimanyu.

"We expect the Government of India to take very strong retaliatory measures against all such ceasefire violations, and ensure the safety and security of the citizens of India, who are living in the border villages, and equip our soldiers fighting on the border with best equipments and raise their morale that they must act, react equally with as much might as possible against the ceasefire violations so that Pakistan does not repeat such incidents," he added.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde is visiting Samba and Hiranagar sectors of Jammu and Kashmir today to review the security situation on Line of Control (LoC).

Shinde will visit the forward Indian posts in Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Home Minister will also visit the BSF Battalion Headquarters, where he will be briefed on the situation prevailing on the International Border in the wake of firing and shelling by Pakistan.

He is also expected to visit the Hiranagar Police Station in Kathua district, where five policemen were killed in an attack by the militants last month.

The visit assumes significance in the backdrop of a series of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops.

Shinde had yesterday expressed concern over repeated ceasefire violations from across the border along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, and said he would be visiting the area to assess the situation on ground.

"We have sufficient information that there has been an infiltration. This might be the result of decisions taken by the Indian Government against militants in the past few years," he told media on the sidelines of a function here.

The Home Minister had also rejected third party intervention on Kashmir. He said that the Indian Government has consistently maintained that there can be no third party interference in bilateral matters between India and Pakistan.

"Our stand has always been that when it is a matter between two countries, the third country cannot participate in it. This has been our viewpoint right the time of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and even today our view is the same," Shinde said, when asked about Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hinting at seeking US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue.