The Army will respond to the killing and mutilation of its soldiers like it has always done in the past, said Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday, when he addressed a defence think tank.
“When such an incident happens, we also take retaliatory measures. We have been doing [this]. There is nothing new [about this],” General Rawat said on the sidelines of an event at the United Service Institution of India.
Asked about plans, he said the Army does not discuss its plans in public beforehand and they are available “once it is executed.”
On Monday, two soldiers of a joint patrol team of the Army and the Border Security Force (BSF) was ambushed by a Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistan Army in the KG sector in Kashmir, 200 metres inside the Line of Control (LoC). Two soldiers were killed and their bodies mutilated.
Following this, India had summoned Pakistan High Commissioner in India Abdul Basit and demanded strict action against those responsible.
India also stated that it had evidence of the blood trail from the bodies leading across the LoC.
Infiltration worries
Asked about the reactivation of terror launchpads across the LoC, which were destroyed by India during the surgical strike last year, General Rawat said, “Terrorists are trying to infiltrate. Snows are melting, summer months have started. Like each year, infiltration will commence. We are taking measures. We have beefed up our counter-infiltration postures.”
On the security forces launching a massive anti-militancy operation at multiple places in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday, the Army chief said it was being carried out to bring the situation under control. “The combing operation is going on as some banks were looted and some policemen have been killed. It has been launched to ensure that the situation is brought under control. These operations are carried out regularly,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
