India-Pakistan conflict escalates after border strikes
by Compiled from Wire Services
ISTANBULOct 01, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
by Compiled from Wire Services
Oct 01, 2016 12:00 am
Tension increased between Pakistan and India as leaders of the two countries held high-level internal meetings Friday to review the security situation on the Pakistan-India border, as forces from the two nuclear-armed neighbors were on high alert after deadly clashes.
Indian military officials said on Thursday their troops went up to 3 kilometers inside Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to hit militant "launch pads" from where insurgents were planning to attack India. Pakistan said only cross-border firing occurred in which two of its soldiers died.
An emergency cabinet meeting chaired by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was underway in Islamabad on Friday morning. Military chiefs were briefing leaders about Pakistan's preparedness to respond in case of further confrontation, officials from Sharif's office said. Pakistani Ambassador to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi said her country would seek U.N. intervention to ease tensions. Meanwhile in Delhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting to review the security situation, as villages along the border in Punjab state were being evacuated.
Late Thursday, Pakistani forces said they had captured an Indian soldier who crossed the so-called Line of Control (LoC) between the two countries, hours after troops from both sides exchanged fire.
But the Indian army said the captured soldier had "inadvertently crossed" a de facto border from the army post where he was on duty and would be returned to India through appropriate military channels.
Two Pakistani troops were killed during an hours-long clash with Indian border guards, the Pakistani army said Thursday. The fresh round of shelling and firing continued from late Wednesday night to Thursday morning at different points of the LoC, the de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir valley between the hostile neighbors. Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt. General Ranbir Singh said India had carried out a "surgical strike" to stop attempted infiltration over the LoC. However, Pakistan's army called the shelling unprovoked, and it responded "befittingly." Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif condemned "Indian aggression" and said while his country wanted regional peace, it was prepared to respond to any attacks.
The battle followed heightened tensions in recent weeks after the killing of 18 Indian soldiers at their base in Indian-held Kashmir two weeks ago, which India blamed on Pakistan.
In Washington, the White House said the U.S. encourages "continued discussions between India and Pakistan to avoid escalation" and "is firmly committed to our partnership with India and to our joint efforts to combat terrorism," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters. "At the same time, we continue to be in close contact with Pakistan, and we continue to value the important partnership that we have formed with them on a range of issues, including security issues."
The two neighbors have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir since 1947, and Islamabad last Tuesday warned it would not refrain from using its nuclear arsenal in case of war with India.
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