New Delhi: The Indian Army’s director-general of military operations (DGMO) Lt. Gen A.K. Bhatia on Thursday called up his Pakistani counterpart to convey India’s concerns over the movement of terrorists detected along the Line of Control (LoC). Rejecting the allegation, the Pakistan Army asked India to “share evidence”.
Confirming the hotline contact between the two DGMOs, Pakistan military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted: “Indian concern on terrorists’ movement along the LoC were strongly rejected during the hotline call. Indian Army asked to look inward, share evidence”.
The two DGMOs had last established a hotline contact on November 23, when the Pakistan DGMO in a surprise gesture had called up his Indian counterpart to inform the latter about Pakistani civilian casualties in the aftermath of the Indian Army’s punitive fire assaults.
The then Indian DGMO Lt. Gen. Singh, while expressing grief at the Pak civilian casualties, had emphatically stated that “retaliatory firing by Indian troops has only been carried out targeting locations from where Pakistan has initiated ceasefire violations on Indian posts”.
The two DGMOs had also spoken in September just after the Uri terror attack that claimed the lives of 19 Indian soldiers.
The source added that Pakistan’s DGMO was also informed about the repatriation of two Pakistan nationals apprehended in Kashmir’s Uri.
Two teenagers-Awan and Ahsan-had accidentally crossed the LoC in September just after militants attacked an Army camp on September 19 in Uri. The duo was initially suspected to be guides of the Militants, and the Army had handed them over to the NIA for proper investigations.
On finding no connection between the two teenagers and the terrorist involved in the Uri attack, the NIA on Wednesday handed them over to the Army. “The individuals will be repatriated through the Wagah border on Friday,” the source added.
Indo-Pak relations have plummeted after the Uri attack which led to a surgical strike by Indian special forces on September 28-29.
On Thursday, Pakistan reiterated that it will maintain minimum deterrence capability to safeguard its national security.
Addressing a weekly media briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said while India’s arms build-up and testing of inter-continental ballistic missiles is a source of concern for the region, Pakistan does not want to indulge in arms race.
