Soldier killed in Kashmir blast laid to rest with military honours, army promises action

A soldier, who died in a blast in Kashmir, was laid to rest with full military honours on Sunday. Senior officials of the Indian Army attending the funeral promised stern action against Pakistan.

An improvised explosive device (IED) triggered by militants near the Line of Control (LOC) at the Balnoi battalion in Poonch district of Kashmir on Saturday killed one soldier and injured another.

Both the soldiers were on patrol along the LoC in Balnoi sector when the IED blast injured both of them wherein soldier, Akshaya Godbole, succumbed to his injuries while Shubam Khadatkar was taken to hospital for treatment.

Brigadier Neeraj Vasney of 16 Corps said, "Indian troops were giving a fitting reply to the constant firing and ceasefire violation from Pakistan's side that has been going on for the past three days in Poonch sector."

"The Indian Army is very capable of handling the ceasefire violations which are taking place. And the commanders on ground are taking appropriate actions in order to give a proper reply to the constant firing," Brigadier Vasney added.

Earlier, unprovoked firing and ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops at Indian positions along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir had left one dead and injured four civilians on Friday.

Pakistan had also violated ceasefire at the shared border on the intervening night of September 30 and October 01. This, however, is not the first time the ceasefire between both neighbours has been violated.

Kashmir has witnessed almost uninterrupted ceasefire violation by Pakistan since August 15 this year. The fresh violations came after a gap of more than one month along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir.

The troops of arch rivals India and Pakistan intermittently exchange fire on Line of Control (LoC) despite an agreement in 2003 that a ceasefire should be observed along the working boundary.

In 2013, over 200 ceasefire violations were recorded on the LoC, the highest in the last decade.

Both New Delhi and Islamabad blame each other for resorting to unprovoked firings.

India has for years complained that Pakistan backs separatist militants who slip in from Pakistani-controlled Kashmir to stage attacks.

Pakistan says it only gives political support to the Muslim people of Kashmir, who it says face human rights abuses at the hands of Indian troops. India denies that.

In August, New Delhi cancelled talks with Islamabad after the Pakistan High Commissioner to India met with separatist leaders in India.

The cancellation dashed any hopes of near-term peace deliberations, chances of which had risen after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the inauguration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about three months ago.

Giving ammunition to hawks on both the sides against resuming talks, firing across the border has picked up.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since a war after independence from Britain in 1947, and the two nuclear-armed neighbours have fought two of their three wars over the territory.

India has never carried out a promise made more than 60 years ago to hold a plebiscite that would determine the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

It now considers the entire region of snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys an integral part of its territory and maintains a massive military presence in Jammu and Kashmir, its northernmost and only Muslim-majority state.