J and K militant attacks: BJP cautions PM, says 'you can't have terror and peace talks together'

Condemning Thursday's twin terror strikes in Kathua and Samba Districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) again reiterated its earlier stand that terror and peace talks can't be mixed.

"We condemn the dastardly twin terror attacks in Kathua and elsewhere, because, this shows that Pakistan continues on its strategy to strike at will through this proxy war or terror. And, that's why in this backdrop, the talk of the Indian Prime Minister with the Pakistan Prime Minister is absolutely uncalled for," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.

He said that Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has himself assured the nation through both houses of Parliament after 26/11 that we will not hold talks with Pakistan till Islamabad takes credible action against terror.

"But what we are seeing today is Pakistan's land is being used to conduct terror attacks in India. So, this being the case the BJP always believes that you can't have terror and peace talks together," he added.

The attack comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for the U.S. yesterday, where he is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday for talks.

Today's attack is seen as a bid to derail the meeting between the two sides.

In a major attack, the militants have killed at least 12 people in a police station and an army cantonment in Jammu and Kashmir this morning.

Over a dozen people are injured and more casualties are feared.

The militants first attacked a police station in Hiranagar of Kathua district. According to reports, six policemen and three civilians have been killed in the attack on the police station.

The militants later intercepted a truck on the highway, boarded it and forced its driver to move towards Jammu. The militants stopped the vehicle near the gate of an army camp in Samba and attacked the camp.

The militants started firing inside the army area, initiating the encounter with the security personnel.

A gun-battle is still on. Further details are awaited.