INDIA: India's Air Chief calls for compliance options to be explored in wake of Kashmir ceasefire violation
Record ID:
1375134
INDIA: India's Air Chief calls for compliance options to be explored in wake of Kashmir ceasefire violation
- Title: INDIA: India's Air Chief calls for compliance options to be explored in wake of Kashmir ceasefire violation
- Date: 12th January 2013
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (JANUARY 12, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) INDIA'S CHIEF OF AIR STAFF, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL NAK BROWNE, STANDING BEFORE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIA'S CHIEF OF AIR STAFF, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL NAK BROWNE, SAYING: "We have a line of control, we have a ceasefire agreement, we have certain mechanisms, we have certain structures and that is sacrosanct. Any violation of these with impunity, especially as to what's been happening in the last few months, is totally unacceptable. We are monitoring the situation very carefully because if these things continue the way they are and the violations continue to take place, then perhaps we may have to look at some other options for compliance." (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIA'S CHIEF OF AIR STAFF, AIR CHIEF MARSHAL NAK BROWNE, SAYING: "If you join the armed forces, you hold certain values, you hold certain ethos, certain traditions of the country, which we have to uphold and that's the kind of oath that you take, when you join the armed forces. My message to the youth who want to join the armed forces is that when they do so, they would be treated honourably, they would be taken care of and we will make sure that everything is available for them in meeting their operational task." RAJOURI, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (RECENT) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) ARMY VEHICLE CARRYING COFFINS WITH BODIES OF TWO INDIAN ARMY SOLDIERS WHO DIED IN KASHMIR IN AN ENCOUNTER BLAMED ON PAKISTAN ARMY SOLDIERS CARRYING A COFFIN NAME OF ONE OF THE SOLDIERS WRITTEN ON THE COFFIN COFFIN CONTAINING BODY OF ANOTHER SOLDIER BEING CARRIED BY SOLDIERS TWO COFFINS SOLDIERS AND OFFICERS STANDING POONCH, JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA (RECENT- JANUARY 09, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4: 3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) LINE OF CONTROL CHECK-POST ON A HILL LINE OF CONTROL FENCE ALONG THE LINE OF CONTROL
- Embargoed: 27th January 2013 19:10
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4NVQ0AHTGIO1Z39Z1E8LN4DVV
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: India's Chief of air staff, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, on Saturday (January 12) condemned the deaths of Indian soldiers on the Kashmir border and said India will explore other compliance options if Pakistan continues to breach the terms of the agreed ceasefire.
In a recent firefight in the disputed territory of northern Jammu and Kashmir, two Indian soldiers were killed.
The body of one of the soldiers was found mutilated in a forested area on the side controlled by India. It had been decapitated and another had its throat slit.
Browne said the country would not accept such violations by Pakistan.
"We have a line of control, we have a ceasefire agreement, we have certain mechanisms, we have certain structures and that is sacrosanct. Any violation of these with impunity, especially as to what's been happening in the last few months, is totally unacceptable. We are monitoring the situation very carefully because if these things continue the way they are and the violations continue to take place, then perhaps we may have to look at some other options for compliance," he said.
Firing and small skirmishes are common along the 740-km (460-mile) line of control despite a ceasefire that was agreed in 2003.
India summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi to lodge a "strong protest", accusing a group of Pakistani soldiers it said had crossed the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir of "barbaric and inhuman" behaviour.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, and both are now nuclear-armed powers.
Browne said that youth joining the armed forces would be treated honourably and taken care of.
"If you join the armed forces, you hold certain values, you hold certain ethos, certain traditions of the country, which we have to uphold and that's the kind of oath that you take, when you join the armed forces. My message to the youth who want to join the armed forces is that when they do so, they would be treated honourably, they would be taken care of and we will make sure that everything is available for them in meeting their operational task," said Browne.
Pakistan's foreign ministry denied India's allegations of an incursion as "baseless and unfounded" and said in a statement that it was prepared for an investigation by a U.N. military observer group into recent ceasefire violations.
India considers the entire Kashmir region of snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys an integral part of its territory. Muslim Pakistan contests that and demands implementation of a 1948 U.N. Security Council resolution for a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the mostly Muslim people of Kashmir. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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