Govt. should send a strong message to Pak, not suspend talks: CPI

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta on Wednesday said the UPA Government must not suspend talks with Pakistan, but instead, take a strong stand on the killing of five Indian soldiers in Poonch on Tuesday morning.

"The media is saying India is a soft state. Do you want India to be a military state? The point is that we have to fight terrorism, but that does not mean the peace process with Pakistan should be abandoned because people in Pakistan don't like this terrorism going on across the border-not in their country or in our country. Strongest protest should be lodged with Pakistan, but peace talks should carry on with it," Dasgupta said.

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.

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.