- Title: INDIA: Dehli says Pakistan must stop border violence before talks
- Date: 6th August 2013
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (AUGUST 06, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) EXTERIOR OF INDIAN PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIA'S JUNIOR INTERIOR MINISTER, R. P. N. SINGH, SAYING: "It is an extremely unfortunate incident. If Pakistan wants to have better relations with India, I think this is not the way that we are going to have better relations." POONCH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (FILE - 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) VIEW OF VALLEY MOUNTAIN ARMED INDIAN SOLDIER STANDING INSIDE A BUNKER AUTOMATIC WEAPON OF THE SOLDIER THE LINE OF CONTROL (LOC) FENCING ALONG THE BORDER NEW DELHI, INDIA (AUGUST 06, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) INDIA'S NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY MINISTER, FAROOQ ABDULLAH, SAYING: "This is not a new thing, such incidents have been happening for many years and the Indian Prime Minister is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart in the US in September. We hope that if they really want to have friendly relations with India then such acts need to be stopped, or else soon Indian soldiers would not be able to control themselves." SENIOR LEADER OF MAIN OPPOSITION, BHARTIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP), JASWANT SINGH, STANDING OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR LEADER OF MAIN OPPOSITION, BHARTIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP), JASWANT SINGH, SAYING: "The relationship between India and Pakistan are given to frequent fractures, it is a tenuous relationship and such incidents do not contribute at all to strengthening of the relations." POONCH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (AUGUST 06, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) VIEW OF THE VALLEY NEAR THE BORDER FENCING ALONG THE BORDER VIEW OF THE VALLEY NEW DELHI, INDIA (AUGUST 06, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR LEADER, COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (CPI), D. RAJA, SAYING: "It is a very serious development. I hope then government of India has taken up some initiative to take up the issue with Pakistani administration and government. Because parliament is in session, it is in fitness of things that government should make some kind of statement and explain what happened there and how the government is going to tackle the issue." POONCH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (AUGUST 06, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) BUNKER NEXT TO BORDER FENCING VIEW OF THE BORDER CAVALCADE OF ARMY CARS MOVING ON THE ROAD
- Embargoed: 21st August 2013 20:39
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Conflict,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA91UKYWTAEVBZZY6GY0AGDA839
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: The Indian government said on Tuesday (August 06) Pakistan must end violence after five soldiers were killed along the disputed border with Kashmir, as the two countries were moving towards resuming stalled talks.
It was not clear who carried out the attack in the Poonch sector and a Pakistani security official denied involvement.
The two armies, which are locked in eyeball-to-eye-ball confrontation along the heavily militarized border, clashed in Poonch in January after one Indian soldier was killed and decapitated. Facing public outrage over the attack, India called off planned peace talks with Pakistan.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah said on Twitter he was briefed about news that five Indian soldiers had been killed on the Line of Control dividing the two countries in the Himalayan region.
India summoned Pakistan's deputy envoy to New Delhi and lodged a protest over the killing, a government source said.
The killings caused an uproar in the Indian parliament as lawmakers demanded an explaination from the government..
Defence Minister Arackaparambil Kurien Antony would due to make a statement in parliament later.
India's junior interior minister, R. P. N Singh described the killings as unfortunate.
"It is an extremely unfortunate incident. If Pakistan wants to have better relations with India, I think this is not the way that we are going to have better relations," said Singh.
Indian officials said a border post in Chakanda Bagh of Poonch district had been attacked but gave no details Late last month, Pakistan's new government led by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif proposed dates for talks and New Delhi had been preparing a response.
India's new and renewable energy minister and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah warned Indian soldiers would lose their patience.
"This is not a new thing, such incidents have been happening for many years and the Indian Prime Minister is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart in the US in September. We hope that if they really want to have friendly relations with India then such acts need to be stopped, or else soon the Indian soldiers would not be able to control themselves," said Abdullah.
Senior leader of India's main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former foreign minister, Jaswant Singh said bilateral relations could be affected.
"The relationship between India and Pakistan are given to frequent fractures, it is a tenuous relationship and such incidents do not contribute at all to strengthening of the relations," said Singh.
A Pakistani security official denied there had been any exchange of fire on the border. "There has been no incident whatsoever," a security official said on condition of anonymity.
A lasting peace between Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since both gained independence in 1947, has long proved elusive.
With many fearing an upsurge in conflict in Afghanistan after Western forces pull out next year, it is even more important for teh two rivals to ratchet down tension, some analysts say.
"It is a very serious development. I hope then government of India has taken up some initiative to take up the issue with Pakistani administration and government," said senior leader of Communist Party of India (CPI), D. Raja.
Before the killings, there had been talk of a meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - who made better ties with India a theme in his election campaign in May - and his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September.
India charges that Pakistan arms and harbours militants in Kashmir, the Muslim-majority territory claimed by both nations, and pushes them across the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border.
Pakistan denies arming the militants, saying it offers only moral support to the people of Kashmir.
There has been a spate of unusually deadly militant attacks on Indian security forces in Kashmir this year. Around 25 militants have been killed by India's armed forces in the past month, according to Indian officials. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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