The Army will continue the process of giving a befitting reply to Pakistan’s actions, the Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Sarath Chand, said on Monday even as the military paid last respects to four of its personnel killed in Sunday’s cross-border firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We will continue with our process of giving a befitting reply. [Our] action will speak for itself,” said Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand in response to a question from presspersons on the sidelines of an event.
Four Army personnel, including a Captain, were killed on Sunday in ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army in the Poonch and Rajouri sectors along the LoC. The personnel have been identified as Capt. Kapil Kundu, Havildar Roshan Lal, Rifleman Ramavatar and Rifleman Subham Singh.
A new high
This year has already recorded a new high in the number of such violations. In the past 35 days, there were 240 incidents on the LoC and the International Boundary together, higher than the 228 for the entire 2016. In 2017, there were 860 incidents, while 122 were reported in 2015. On the spiralling exchange of fire, an Army source said that the current phase of was an “escalatory ladder”, which started in December when a Junior Commissioned Officer was killed in Pakistani sniper fire.
“In our response their officer was killed. They have to placate their side and show they have caused higher damage on our side. And we have to retaliate if we are hit,” the source said.
Stating that the firing continued till late on Sunday night but has since stopped, the officer stated, “Firing is likely to continue for some days, as it happens usually after casualties. This tit-for-tat goes on unless there is a longish gap. Hope this pause extends.”
(With PTI inputs)
