Army shall give proper reply to Pak: Rajnath

New Delhi, Feb 05: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday condemned the cross-border firing by Pakistan in which four Indian soldiers, including a Captain, were killed, saying he has “full faith in the valour of the Indian Army” and they shall give “proper reply” to the neighbour.
“Have full faith in the valour of our soldiers, and they shall give proper reply,” Rajnath Singh told reporters.
Earlier, Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir also condemned the Pakistan firing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Poonch districts saying that it shall “cost Pakistan dearly”.
“Pakistan has been violating ceasefire along the LoC. And this year the number of ceasefire violations are high,” Ahir said.
“Yesterday (Sunday) also, they again violated ceasefire. We will not forgive Pakistan’s actions,” the Minister said.
“The ceasefire violations would prove to be Pakistan’s foolishness and will cost them dearly,” he added.
Union Minister for MSME, Giriraj Singh also slammed Pakistan for the “ceasefire violations” and said, “Have faith in the Indian Army. When the right time comes they shall give a proper reply to them.”
He said India has been following international laws. “There is a Hindi saying in Bihar ‘latkhor’ (addicted to being beaten), and similarly Pakistan is ‘latkhor’ and thus proper reply would be given to them,” he added.
The Minister’s remarks came in the wake of the increased cross border firing in Kashmir valley.
On Sunday, four Indian soldiers were killed and four others were injured in firing in Rajouri and Poonch districts.
The killed soldiers included Captain Kapil Kundu, who would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on February 10. Hailing from Haryana’s Gurugram, he is survived by his mother Sunita.
The others were Riflemen Ramavatar, 27, from Baraka village in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, besides Subham Singh, 23, from Kathua and Havilder Roshan Lal, 43, from Samba in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Army said that Pakistani troops had resorted to ceasefire violation in the Poonch sector along the Line of Control. The Pakistan Army “initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 1100 hours” on Sunday, an Army officer said, adding that “Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively.”
Army sources said 2017 has turned out to be the most violent year along the India-Pakistan border since the two sides entered into a ceasefire agreement in 2003. At least 860 incidents of ceasefire violations have been recorded in the past year.
January 2018 has recorded the highest number of ceasefire violations ever since the 2003 agreement with 150 violations. In contrast, January 2017 saw just eight such instances.
Ceasefire violations have been steadily rising over the past three years. In 2015 there were 387 violations, while in 2016 it was 271. Over the past few months again, violations have been going up, with December 2017 recording 147 instances.