Irritated over Baloch issue, Pak now indulging in proxy war: Defence Expert

Defence Expert Major General (Retd.) S.R. Sinho on Sunday blamed Pakistan for launching proxy war against India and said Islamabad is irritated because of the Balochistan issue.

Major General (Retd.) Sinho told ANI it is time that India should take an absolutely practical approach.

"This indicates that the proxy war has been launched by the Pakistanis because now they are getting irritated due to the Balochistan issue. Pakistan Prime Minister is facing a corruption attack from his government on Panama leak. So, Pakistan is indulging in these activities. Pakistan is not going to stop these kinds of activities. They have done it earlier also," he added.

Major General (Retd.) Sinho said the government of India has to now react and not prolong this proxy war as far as Pakistan is concerned.

"The security forces can only act on their own limits at this side of the border and they have got no other option except using the maximum force. But the time has come because the Pakistan is sending the terrorists across the border in our territory. The government has to now react and I think we should not prolong this proxy war as far the Pakistanis are concerned," he added.

With 17 Army soldiers being killed in a major encounter with terrorists in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has blamed Pakistan for the terror attack, saying that this was a massive controversy against India, adding the Centre is looking into Islamabad's role in the matter.

Speaking to ANI in Katra, Singh stated that the current situation of unrest in the Valley is the result of the proxy war in which Pakistan has been indulging since ages.

In a statement, the Army said that a group of heavily armed terrorists targeted the rear administrative base of a unit at Uri, and in the counter action, four terrorists have been eliminated and combing operations are in progress.

"The administrative base had large strength of troops of units turning over after their tour of duty who were stationed in tents/temporary shelters which caught fire, and resulted in heavy casualties. We salute the sacrifice of 17 soldiers who were martyred in the operation," the statement added.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Army Chief General Dalbir Singh will visit the Valley to take stock of the situation.

After postponing his forthcoming visits to the United States and Russia in the wake of the encounter in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has instructed Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs to closely monitor the situation in the Valley.

A high level security meet is presently underway at Rajnath's residence in which senior MHA and MoD officials are present.