New Delhi: Two months after Nawaz Sharif took charge as the Prime Minister in Islamabad, India-Pakistan relations took a new hit on Tuesday after heavily armed terrorists backed by Pakistani troops ambushed an Indian Army patrol in Jammu and Kashmir, killing five soldiers and triggering angry reactions in New Delhi.
Even as Pakistan denied any involvement in the post midnight attack in Poonch sector, political leaders used tough language to denounce the killings with Congress President Sonia Gandhi saying India won't be "cowed down by such blatant acts of deceit".
While the Centre warned Pakistan that such attacks could hit ties, the opposition parties and the Samajwadi Party tore into the UPA with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the regime of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of siding with Pakistan.
BJP also suggested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should not hold bilateral talks with his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his forthcoming visit to the US for United Nations General Assembly meeting.
Strongly condemning the attack at the LoC, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said that "there should be no talks with Pakistan until they keep the assurance given to Atal Bihari Vajpayee on January 6, 2004. There should be no talks at any level, especially at the level of the Prime Minister." He underlined Manmohan Singh should not hold talks with Sharif during his forthcoming visit to the US for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
BJP supporters even held a demonstration outside Defence Minister AK Antony's residence in New Delhi demanding a strong response by the government against killing. The BJP supporters raised slogans demanding that a strong message be sent to Pakistan that such incidents will not be tolerated.
The Indian patrol was attacked and fired upon well inside the Indian side of the LoC between Monday midnight and 1 am on Tuesday by at least 20 Pakistani troops and Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists. According to the Army, 10-12 soldiers of 21st Battalion of the Bihar Regiment, which is deployed in the sector, along with a few from the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment were patrolling the border on Monday night when they were ambushed at Chakan da Bagh by the Pakistani intruders.
Defence Minister AK Antony said in Parliament that at least 20 heavily armed men dressed in the Pakistani Army uniform, entered the Indian side of the LoC and ambushed the soldiers near the Indian post Sarla late on Monday night. The Indian soldiers were on a border domination exercise when they were fired upon at around midnight. The attack took place between midnight and 1 am. The attackers included Lashkar-e-Toiba Border Action Team (BAT) which has highly trained terrorists for carrying out such attacks with the help of Pakistani Army. The dead included four from the Bihar Regiment and one belonged to Maratha Light Infantry.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Arun Jaitley launched a scathing attack on the government in the Rajya Sabha for its soft posture. He hit out at Antony for claiming that attackers were dressed in Pakistan Army uniform, saying that such comments provide an escape route to Pakistan. "You are almost giving an opportunity to Pakistan to say that non-state actors were involved in the incident," he said.
Reminding the government that Pakistan has carried such ghastly activities in the past, Jaitley said: "These incidents are not taking place in isolation. Earlier this year you had soldiers being beheaded and then Sarabjit Singh was killed in a Pakistani prisoon. Two days ago there was bomb blast outside the Indian consulate in Jalalbad (Afghanistan). You have had a series of cross borders terrorism incidents and these incidents have increased."
"Is the Pakistani civilian government in full control of Pakistan? Or are the strategies in these issues decided by someone else. The dialogue process must depend on what Pakistan's attitude is. Therefore, we will have to modulate our foreign policy to give a clear message to Pakistan that these kinds of attacks will not be tolerated," said the BJP leader.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh asked why the government was not prepared to protect its borders claiming that a terrorist group based in Pakistan had recently surveyed Indian targets. He claimed that New Delhi's soft stand over the unresolved border issues were giving confidence to China to adopt aggressive posturing around Indian borders. "I want to alert the government that there is a possibility that China is preparing to attack India. China has made a complete map of our borders," claimed Yadav and urged the government to take a strong stand over such incidents and assured that the whole House and the country will stand by the government on steps that it takes.
While the SP chief slammed the government over its unpreparedness, his party colleague Ramgopal Yadav accused the Defence Minister for not using strong words to condemn Pakistan. Reacting strongly to Antony's statement, Yadav said: "The defence minister's statement is unsatisfactory as it has given way to Pakistan to escape responsibility."
The Left parties were also vocal on the issue. While CPI leader D Raja slammed the government for not taking up the matter with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain, CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury claimed that New Delhi has failed miserably to check infiltration attempts near the border. "Are we becoming incapable of defending ourselves? What are the steps taken by the government with Pakistan? Infiltration attempts have doubled and ceasefire violation has increased by 80 per cent," claimed Yechury.
"This is a very serious mistake being committed by the minister. Is there any basis to the comment made by the minister?" Yechury asked Antony about his comment that the attackers were terrorists probably dressed in army uniform.
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