In the wake of ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army, defence minister A.K. Antony said on Monday that the Indian “Army has mobilised its resources to effectively and strongly retaliate to every ceasefire violation on the Line of Control (LoC)” and that “our restraint should not be taken for granted; nor should the capacity of our armed forces and resolve of the government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted.”
“The Army has mobilised its resources to effectively and strongly retaliate to every ceasefire violation on the LoC... They will do everything to ensure the sanctity of the LoC and the nation,” Mr Antony told the Rajya Sabha. “This time what worried us more is the frequency,” he said, adding that there had been 24 ceasefire violations between August 6 and Monday (August 19). “Our Army is taking all possible steps to retaliate to every action along LoC,” he added.
“Our restraint should not be taken for granted; nor should the capacity of our armed forces and resolve of the government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted,” the defence minister told Parliament.
In his statement, the defence minister also said that the killing of five Indian soldiers on August 6 in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir “will have consequences on our behaviour on the Line of Control and for our relations with Pakistan”.
The minister said the armed forces would do everything to maintain the sanctity of the Line of Control. “I assure the House that our security forces will do everything to protect the sanctity of the Line of Control,” he said.
Blaming Pakistan for increased incidents of violence across the LoC, Mr. Antony assured the Rajya Sabha on Monday that the government and country was united in backing the Indian Army.