 "Nation stands by you, Shinde tells soldiers in J-K")
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who on Tuesday reviewed the security situation in the wake of recent ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, boosted the morale of the security forces, and said that the nation stands by them.
Accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Shinde told Border Security Force (BSF) personnel that the government was firmly behind them.
"We have come here to promise you that we stand by you, the country stands by you," Shinde told the Indian soldiers as he visited the forward posts in Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
He is also expected to visit the Hiranagar Police Station in Kathua district, where five policemen were killed in an attack by the militants last month.
The visit assumes significance in the backdrop of a series of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops.
Shinde had yesterday expressed concern over repeated ceasefire violations from across the border along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, and said he would be visiting the area to assess the situation on ground.
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"We have sufficient information that there has been an infiltration. This might be the result of decisions taken by the Indian Government against militants in the past few years," he told media on the sidelines of a function here.
The Home Minister had also rejected third party intervention on Kashmir. He said that the Indian Government has consistently maintained that there can be no third party interference in bilateral matters between India and Pakistan.
"Our stand has always been that when it is a matter between two countries, the third country cannot participate in it. This has been our viewpoint right the time of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and even today our view is the same," Shinde said, when asked about Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hinting at seeking US intervention in resolving the Kashmir issue.