India warns Pakistan on cross-border conflict
October 21, 2014
In an interview with Indian television channel NDTV, Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley said: "Our conventional strength is far more than theirs (Pakistan's.) So if they persist with this, they will feel the pain of this adventurism."
Conflict along the border between the two countries began earlier this month, with heavy shelling killing at least 20 civilians and injuring dozens of others. It remains unclear which country fired first or what triggered the conflict, prompting reciprocal allegations of responsibility.
Pakistani army officials say that India began reinforcing its border defenses, which violated the truce agreement.
Indian soldiers, on the other hand, returned fire after one of their soldiers was killed in an attack from across the border. According to Reuters news agency, Indian border commanders have adopted an aggressive stance since then, firing nearly 1000 mortars a day. The incident was considered the worst violation of the ceasefire since 2003.
Indian Defense minister Arun Jaitley used a metaphor for India's defense strategy, saying that his country "always had a shield in hand" when Pakistan used to fire, but that this time India "also had a sword," implying that his country would retaliate with violence if necessary. He added that Pakistan would have to create the conditions for resuming peace talks with India.
'India would like to have effective deterrence'
India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, reiterated the defense minister's stance, saying that his country would "like to resolve its problems through negotiations," but that "India would like to have effective deterrence to deal with terrorism."
Violence between the two warring nations seems to have abated for the time being, but #link:17988375:tension remains high along the 200 kilometer Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, which demarcates the boundary between India and Pakistan. The line is not recognized as an international border but was the result of a ceasefire agreement between the two countries in July 1972.
The two countries have fought three wars with each other since 1947 after they gained independence from British colonial rule.
mg/glb (Reuters, PTI)