Indian army strikes Pakistan, hits terrorist launch pads across LoC

New Delhi: Indian army conducted strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) against terrorist launch pads overnight on Wednesday inflicting heavy damage, the Indian army’s director general of military operations (DGMO) Ranbir Singh said on Thursday.

The Indian army action comes against the backdrop of rising tensions between India and Pakistan over cross-border terrorism across the de facto LoC border in Indian Kashmir in the past few weeks.

“Based on very specific and credible information which we received yesterday that some terrorist teams had positioned themselves at launch pads with an aim to carry out infiltration and terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir and various other metros in the country, the Indian army conducted surgical strikes at these launch pads,”Singh said at a joint briefing of the ministries of defence and external affairs in New Delhi.

“During these counter terrorist operations, significant casualties have been caused to the terrorists and those who are trying to support them. The operations aimed at neutralising the terrorists have since ceased. We do not have plans for further continuation of the operations,” Singh told reporters.

India has frequently accused Pakistan of maintaining terrorist training infrastructure ie camps in Pakistan administered Kashmir.

India claims this as its territory given that it says all of Kashmir is part of India.

Launching strikes in this area, therefore, is not the same as launching a strike on Lahore or other parts of main land Pakistan.

According to retired Major General Gagandeep Bakshi, the Indian action serves as a warning for Pakistan. “It is a focused, precise and just response to the attack which led to the death of 18 of our soldiers. This is a message to the world that India cannot be taken for granted.Pakistan has been destabilising peace in the region and this was long over-due,” he said.

Commenting on how Pakistan would react to this, he said, “They can either use their special forces for tit-for-tat operations or they can activate the Line of Control. Whatever they do they will be given a hot reaction by India.”

In his briefing, DGMO Singh said he had contacted the Pakistani director general of military operations with the details of the Indian strikes.

The Indian army action follows terrorist attacks on Poonch and Uri in Kashmir on the 11 and 18 of September, Singh said.

Singh’s briefing followed a cabinet committee on security meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The army action is expected to boost Modi’s image domestically given that he was under tremendous pressure to be seen as taking action following the 18 September terrorist attack on the Indian army garrison in Uri.

The attack killed 18 army soldiers. Immediately in the wake of the Uri attack, Modi had promised that the guilty would not go unpunished.

A Pakistan army statement contradicted the Indian army statement saying : “There has been no surgical strike by India,instead there had been cross border fire initiated and conducted by India which is existential phenomenon.”

“ The notion of surgical strike linked to alleged terrorists bases is an illusion being deliberately generated by Indian to create false effects,” the statement said dismissing the Indian statement of surgical strike as a “rebranding (of) cross border fire.

Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s response was sharper than the Pakistan army.

“We condemn this attack, our desire for peace should not be interpreted as our weakness,” Sharif was quoted as saying by ANI news agency.

Early Thursday morning, there were reports of cross-border firing between Indian and Pakistani troops in the Nowgam sector of the LoC that runs through Kashmir.

“Pakistan troops fired at Indian posts in Nowgam sector of North Kashmir at midnight. They also fired mortars. Army at the LoC (line of control) fired back and intermittent firing is going on,” the army officer said on condition of anonymity, according to a Reuters report. No Indian casualties were reported but two Pakistani soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with Indian forces on Thursday, the Pakistani army said, according to the Reuters report.

At home, the Modi government briefed the President, Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition prime minister Manmohan Singh, the governor of Jammu and Kashmir N N Vora and the chief minister of Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti.

On the diplomatic front, India seems to have kept key countries like the US informed about its military operation.

Indian national security advisor, Ajit Doval, spoke to his US counterpart Susan Rice early on Thursday.

“National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice ....strongly condemned the September 18 cross-border attack on the Indian Army Brigade headquarters in Uri and offered condolences to the victims and their families,” a statement put out by Rice’s spokesman Ned Price said.

“Highlighting the danger that cross-border terrorism poses to the region, Ambassador Rice reiterated our expectation that Pakistan take effective action to combat and delegitimize United Nations-designated terrorist individuals and entities, including Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad, and their affiliates,” the statement said.

The army action, predictably, was hailed at home.

“We salute the Indian armed forces and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for protecting our borders and the life of people. It is a great effort by the Indian forces,” said Siddharth Nath Singh, national secretary of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The main opposition Congress party too gave a thumbs up to the army action.

“Details of this are yet to come out for us to give a specific response. But, our broad stand is that we welcome any action against terrorism which would deter Pakistan to send terrorists across the border. We will await for more details to give a more comprehensive response,” said P. L. Punia, senior leader and spokesperson of the Congress party.

Meanwhile, villagers living in 10 kms from the International Border in Punjab are being evacuated and additional Border Security Force personal have been deployed.