MEA summons Pakistan envoy Abdul Basit, demands action over mutilation of soldiers

New Delhi: An “outraged” India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and demanded action against Pakistani soldiers and commanders responsible for the beheading of two of its security force personnel in Jammu and Kashmir. Basit was summoned by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar to convey India’s “outrage at the killing and the barbaric act of mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers on May one, 2017 by Pakistani army personnel”, an external affairs ministry statement said. “The Foreign Secretary summons Pakistan High Court, conveys India’s outrage, demands action against Pakistani soldiers and commanders responsible,” tweeted foreign ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay.

Foreign Secretary summons Pak HC, conveys India's outrage, demands action against Pak soldiers and commanders responsible pic.twitter.com/lKaRzIlhKb

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) May 3, 2017

The Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen AK Bhatt had conveyed to his Pakistan counterpart that such a dastardly and inhuman act was beyond any norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response. [caption id=“attachment_3421302” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. Agencies[/caption] Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF head constable Prem Singh were allegedly slained by Pakistan Border Action Team (BAT) by sneaking 250 metres into Indian territory in Poonch of Jammu and Kashmir on 1 May. According to reports, a Border Action Team (BAT), made up of Pakistani military and the terrorists it trains, was behind the heinous crime close to the Line of Control. “It was significant that the attack was preceded by covering fire from Pakistani posts in Battal sector (in the vicinity of village Battal). Blood samples of the Indian soldiers that have been collected and the trail of blood on Roza Nala clearly shows that the killers returned across the Line of Control (LoC),” it said. The Indian Army had vowed an “appropriate” response to the “despicable act”, which significantly took place a day after Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa visited some areas along the LoC and promised support to the Kashmiris. The Pakistan Army, however, has denied that it was involved in any attack. Defence minister Arun Jaitley said in Delhi that the “sacrifice (of the two killed) will not go in vain” and the Indian armed forces will react “appropriately” to the “inhuman act” of the Pakistani troops. “This is a reprehensible and an inhuman act. Such attacks do not take place during war,” he said. “Bodies of soldiers being mutilated is an extreme form of barbaric act. The government of India strongly condemns this act. The whole country has full faith in our armed forces which will react appropriately to the act,” Jaitley had said. According to a defence ministry spokesperson, despite the criticism from India, “Pakistani Army carried out unprovoked rocket and mortar firing on two forward posts along the LoC in Krishna Ghati Sector (in Poonch district) on 1 May.” “They attacked with rockets a forward BSF post (which lies) ahead of the fencing and opened heavy fire from automatic weapons. They violated the ceasefire,” a BSF spokesman had told PTI. The Indian troops had retaliated and the firing continued for some time intermittently. In Islamabad, the Pakistani Army said it did not commit any ceasefire violation on LoC or a BAT action in the Krishna Ghati sector. Meanwhile, some official sources have said the Indian army patrol, whose two members were beheaded might just have walked into a death trap laid by the enemy. The incident in Krishna Ghati sector along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir occurred when a joint team of the Indian Army and the BSF had gone to check the veracity of an intelligence report that landmines had been planted by Pakistani troops on the Indian side. With inputs from Agencies