NEW DELHI: India warned Pakistan that it would “pay for this misadventure” following a deadly attack by militants on an army camp in the India-Occupied Kashmir, triggering backlash from Pakistan and counter warning of ‘proper response to any Indian misadventure’.
Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters on Monday evening that the Indian army has ample evidence to prove that “the handlers of the terrorists were back in the neighbouring country.”
In a statement issued today, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khurram Dastgir said: “Any Indian aggression, strategic miscalculation, or misadventure regardless of its scale, mode, or location will not go unpunished and shall be met with an equal and proportionate response.
We will defend robustly every inch of Pakistan’s soil.
Pak will pay India in its own coin in case of any Indian misadventure.
Any Indian aggression, strategic miscalculation, or misadventure regardless of its scale, mode, or location will not go unpunished & shall be met with an equal & proportionate response.https://t.co/wbotkeHkP9— Pak Minister Defence (@PakMnstrDefence) February 13, 2018
Instead of the knee-jerk reaction of blaming Pakistan without substantiation, India must answer for state-sponsored espionage against Pakistan. Living evidence in person of Kulbushan Yadev is in front of the world.
India has failed to deliver justice to the 42 Pakistanis murdered in the Samjhota Express terrorism eleven years ago this week.
India is destabilizing regional peace in word and deed; through irresponsible statements on nuclear deterrent and through its bloody, five-fold escalation in 2017 of attacks on unarmed civilians on the line-of-control and working boundary.
Pak Armed Forces are alive to all possibilities, and prepared fully to defend our country’s territorial integrity. Backed fully by the Pakistani people, our forces are vigilant on land, sea, and air, he added.
An aggressive Pak centric doctrine and arrayed forces under a belligerent regime leading to possible strategic miscalculation by India will seriously impact the strategic stability in South Asia.”
Saturday’s attack on the camp near Jammu, the winter capital of the state, was the worst in months with six soldiers and the father of a soldier killed. Among the 10 wounded were women and children. At least three militants were killed, according to Indian officials, bringing the death toll to 10.
“Pakistan is expanding the arc of terror… resorting to ceasefire violations to assist infiltration,” Sitharaman said. “Pakistan will pay for this misadventure.”
Since India-Pakistan split 71 years ago, the nations have fought each other in three wars, two over the Kashmir region, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
