Army chief's message to Pakistan: Won't sit quiet if you break rules

In a strong message to Pakistan over violations of the ceasefire along the Line of Control, Army chief General Bikram Singh said today that India will not sit quiet if its neighbours break rules on the border. “If rules are followed by the neighbours then we follow the rules, but if they break them then we won’t stick to it,” Singh said today. [caption id=“attachment_1160107” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  General Bikram Singh. AFP[/caption] The Pakistan media had blamed Indian army for violating the ceasefire and opening firing on civilian population in Muzaffarbad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. “When a ceasefire violation takes place along the LoC, it is a minor war over there,” he said, adding India’s response to attempts at infiltration from across the border continued to remain strong. He said many of the ceasefire violations were committed in order to aid infiltration. “Ceasefire violations have been to aid infiltration (of militants into Kashmir),” Gen Singh said. Pakistan had violated the ceasefire, which was signed between the two countries in 2003, a record number of times in 2013 but the Army chief pointed out that since the ceasefire agreement with Pakistan there have been fewer incidents of violations along LoC. He also said that the ceasefire was in keeping with the aspirations of people who live along the border. When asked about the presence of the armed forces in Kashmir, Gen Singh said it was needed “under the present circumstances”. “We should wait for conditions to improve before making changes to the national strategy regarding the army deployment in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. “The military viewpoint (on AFSPA) is that we have to wait for some time to monitor the situation. A decision will be taken only after that,” he added. With inputs from IANS