Don't politicize LoC killings, says Tewari to opposition

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Wednesday appealed to opposition parties to rise above politics and unite for a constructive discussion on what should be India's response to Pakistan on the killing of five Indian Army soldiers in Poonch District on Tuesday morning.

"Well, I am extremely anguished that, on a day when the nation is still mourning the death of its five brave soldiers who were killed on the LOC, that there should be parties and politics played on this issue," Tewari said.

Responding to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) charge that the UPA Government has been passive towards Pakistan, Tewari said he failed to understand how the incumbent government's stand was any different to the responses of any preceding government in matters such as this.

Further, Tewari defended Defence Minister A.K. Antony's statement and urged the opposition to maintain the morale of the Indian Army and keep the nation in mind before making their views known in the public domain.

"The policy of a country with regard to very intricate foreign policy questions is an exercise that we are continuing. The Defence Minister has brought all the facts as were possibly brought to his attention to the notice of the House. I think it would serve all of us that we discuss issues which are sensitive, which have a bearing on the morale of the forces and the morale of the nation in a manner which is sober and try and rise above parties and politics on such questions," Tewari said.

While Pakistan has denied the involvement of its troops in the incident, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said that the intruders who killed the five Indian soldiers were "terrorists along with persons dressed in Pakistan army uniform."

Antony's statement has attracted a lot of flak, as it has contradicted the Indian Army's account, which said that the perpetrators were "soldiers from the Pakistan Army."

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha has forwarded a breach of privilege notice to the Speaker against Antony for misleading the House and altering the statement of the Indian Army.

On Tuesday morning, Pakistani soldiers had intruded into Indian territory and ambushed five Indian soldiers who were patrolling an area along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch District.