Defense experts have urged the Central Government to take immediate and stiff action against Pakistan, after five Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by their troops in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch District late on Monday night.
Defence Minister A. K. Antony confirmed that about 20 heavily armed men dressed in Pakistani military uniforms carried out the attack on the Indian soldiers.
Condemning the attack, former Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, M. M. Khajuria said that India's routine response to incidents along the border is a worrisome trend.
"India's response to these serious incidents of firing is very routine. If you see, these incidents are occurring time and again along important sectors along the border. ...Notice (of it) must be taken very seriously," Khajuria said in Jammu.
Major General (Retd.) R. K. Arora said that this incident was a premeditated plan by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
"I see this recent attack is under Pakistan's recent policy under Nawaz Sharif in which we have learnt that he has created a K-plan, under a K-cell in his office, so as to increase terrorist activities, draw maximum mileage and exploit the situation," Arora said in New Delhi.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had publicly expressed his desire to mend the India-Pakistan relationship.
The Pakistan Prime Minister was to meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in the United States of America in September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
Defense experts stressed on the need for the Central Government to understand that Pakistan and China are working together and that the former has no intention to be friendly with India.
"I am afraid that the Government of India today has got all its facts and figures wrong. They think that Pakistan is going to be friendly with them. Pakistan is not going to be friendly with them because they are with China. Both China and Pakistan are today involved in boundary disputes. We have boundary disputes with China, we have boundary dispute with Pakistan," said a former Lieutenant General P. N. Hoon in Chandigarh.
Defense Analyst Bharat Verma strongly urged Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to call off talks with his counterpart until Pakistan stops engaging in state sponsored terrorism.
"When Nawaz Sharif is asking for dialogue, first Manmohan Singh should tell him very clearly in a statement in public saying that first you dismantle the 42 terrorist camps in PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir), second you get your Army and ISI under your control and place them in the constitutional position of Pakistan's constitution so that they don't misbehave. Unless he can do that, there is no need for India to sit on the negotiation table with Nawaz Sharif for any negotiation," Verma said.
Defense analysts have long feared that militant groups opposed to India would turn their focus to Jammu and Kashmir once Western forces withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014.
Addressing the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said that India had lodged a serious protest with Islamabad over the killing of its soldiers.
"We strongly condemn this unprovoked incident. Government of India has lodged strong protest with government of Pakistan through diplomatic channels. I assure the house that our army is fully ready, I assure you and the house that the army is fully ready to take all necessary steps to uphold the sanctity of LoC," Antony said.
The Pakistan Army and its affiliates have violated the cease-fire established in November 2003 57 times in 2013, which is almost 50 per cent more than the violations that took place in the previous year, sources said.
The situation along the 778-kilometer-long Line of Control (LoC) took a turn for the worse in January this year, when the two armies engaged in heavy firing on a daily basis, after Pakistani Army regulars and some militants crossed over into the Mendhar sector in Jammu and Kashmir and beheaded an Indian soldier and mutilated the body of another on January 8.
The Indian Army is of the view that the terrorism infrastructure in Pakistan continues to be intact. It claims that over 2,500 militants are located in 43 terror-training camps, and about 450 terrorists are ready to cross into India with the help of Pakistani Army.
