Angry over the killing of a BSF jawan in overnight firing by Pakistani troops, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday said a fitting reply would be given against such unprovoked acts from across the border.
Shinde said additional BSF troops were being sent to man the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of continuing ceasefire violations.
"We will give a fitting reply to Pakistan," Shinde told reporters in New Delhi in his reaction to yesterday's firing by Pakistani troops on 50 BSF outposts along IB. The firing came on the heels of a visit by Shinde to the Jammu region on Tuesday to review the situation along the border and discuss ways to deal with ceasefire violations.
Altogether, more than 130 ceasefire violations have been reported so far this year, the highest for the past eight years. Pakistani Rangers had on Monday opened fire at 10 border posts and heavily shelled over 50 border outposts the following night, killing a head constable of BSF.
Asked about the infiltration attempts, Shinde said, "There are rivers and rivulets which are tough to fence. But we have discussed possible solutions". Shinde on Tuesday had conducted an aerial tour of the fenced areas along IB besides surveying infiltration routes and damaged fencing and riverine border belts with Pakistan lying between Akhnoor in Jammu district and Pahadpur (in Kathua district).
Shinde had also met the troops and lauded them for their high morale. "We have come here to promise you that we stand by you, the country stands by you," he had said. He had told the troops to must give a bullet-for-bullet reply to Pakistan. "Yes", the jawans had replied in unison to a question by Shinde whether they were giving a strong reply to Pakistan.
In view of the surge in ceasefire violations, however, Shinde did not visit any forward posts. Ceasefire violations since October 14 have left two jawans dead and caused injuries to 18 persons. While in J-K, Shinde had also remarked that Lashkar-e- Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed could be training terrorists on the other side of the border with Pakistan for infiltration into India.
Shinde had also rejected Pakistan Premier Nawaz Sharif's proposal for US intervention in the Kashmir issue, saying "Kashmir is ours" and there is no question of any role for a third party in resolving the dispute.
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