India has been trying to ease the tension with Pakistan through various steps, but Pakistan has retaliated each time with attacks such as the ones in Pathankot and Uri, as well as the mutilation of Indian soldiers, which have soured the environment for a constructive dialogue, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.
“The Government of India has taken significant steps to ease the situation in the past,” Mr. Jaitley said at a press briefing on the achievements of the government over the last three years.
“The fact that, at the swearing-in ceremony of the government, when the SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] leaders were invited, the Pakistan Prime Minister was invited, the fact that our Prime Minister dropped in at Lahore at a social function in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s family, were all steps intended to ease the tension.”
“But each one of these has been responded by, let us say, a Pathankot or a Uri or by the mutilation of two of our soldiers,” Mr. Jaitley added. “And, therefore, that environment which must exist for a talk has been successfully prevented by Pakistan.”
LoC domination
Mr. Jaitley said the Indian Army and the BSF were “dominating” the Line of Control (LoC) irrespective of whether the problems were being created by foreign insurgents or domestic terrorists. “The security forces have been able to build up a lot of pressure on them, and the results, some of which are evident almost on a daily basis... The situation in Kashmir is better than the impression,” he said.
Regarding the steps taken towards reforms in the defence sector, the Minister said the government had cleared several pending issues. “Many issues such as OROP [One Rank One Pension] were pending,” Mr Jaitley said. “But that was resolved. We also brought in the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) and made it easier for the private sector in defence manufacturing through the strategic partner policy.”
