A day after calling in the Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad, Pakistan has made a written complaint to India over the killing of four Rangers on the International border, accusing the BSF of “killing the soldiers in cold blood.” India has denied the allegations as “baseless.”
In a strongly worded letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz demanded an “immediate investigation into the incident and bringing the perpetrators to account” by India. Pakistan’s Punjab Rangers personnel claim the two rangers were “ambushed” in Pakistan’s Zafarwal sector on December 31 when they were called for a flag meeting to discuss ceasefire violations over the past week.
The letter handed over by the Foreign Secretary to Indian High Commissioner T.C.A. Raghavan alleged that the soldiers who had walked towards the Indian post were “greeted with a volley of unprovoked fire, causing severe injuries to two soldiers. The unabated Indian firing denied timely medical attention to the wounded soldiers, who succumbed to their injuries.”
The Ministry of External Affairs said Mr. Raghavan “rejected the baseless allegations” during his meeting with the Pakistani foreign secretary. Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh accused Pakistani soldiers of having started firing first. “We were just responding to it,” he said.
