'PM should not hold any talks with his Pakistani counterpart': Murli Manohar Joshi

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Thursday said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not hold any talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York next month, after five Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistan Special Forces at the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch District.

"I think he (Prime Minister) should take a cue from Mr. Obama who had cancelled his meeting with Mr. Putin only on giving an asylum to somebody who was wanted by USA. Now five soldiers have been killed and there are sufficient grounds to declare that Indian Prime Minister will not hold any talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif," he told media here today.

Earlier in the day, making a fresh and dramatic statement in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister A.K.Antony accepted and acknowledged after being briefed by the Chief of Army Staff, General Bikram Singh, that Specialist Forces of the Pakistan Army were involved in the ambushed attack on six Indian Army soldiers on Tuesday morning in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch District, leading to the death of five of them.

"It is now clear that Specialist Forces of the Pakistan Army were involved in the attack.Those in Pakistan who are responsible for this tragedy, should not go unpunished. Our restraint should not be taken for granted," said Antony.

Antony said that his earlier statement to both Houses of Parliament were made on the basis of facts available to him then, and that now, he was making a fresh and amended statement based on the feedback provided to him by General Bikram Singh after the latter's visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

He also warned that attacks such as this will have consequences not only on the Line of Control (LoC), but also naturally on the (future) relationship with Pakistan.

He said that the Indian Government would not stand by the wayside and allow the sanctity of the LoC to be violated time and again.