December 12, 2024 20:03 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
UP teenager kills mother, lives with body for 5 days | At least six people including a child killed in Tamil Nadu hospital fire | Amid Atul Subhash row, SC says mere harassment is not enough to prove abetment to suicide | India's D Gukesh becomes youngest ever world champion in chess | Devendra Fadnavis meets PM Modi amid suspense over Maharashtra portfolio allocation | Congress wants to deviate the issue of Sonia Gandhi-George Soros link: JP Nadda | Bengaluru techie suicide: Atul Subhash's family demanded Rs. 10 lakh as dowry leading to my father's death, claims estranged wife | Syria rebels torch tomb of ousted president Bashar al-Assad's father | Donald Trump vows to eliminate birthright citizenship after taking charge | No alliance with Congress in Delhi polls: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

India does not want further escalation of situation: Sushma Swaraj

| @indiablooms | Feb 27, 2019, at 10:27 am

Wuzen, Feb 27 (IBNS): A day after India Air Force jets hit terror camp across the Line of Control, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is currently in China, said the country will want to avoid any "further escalation of the situation" and will "continue to act with responsibility and restraint". 

The IAF jets hit the terror camp just a few days after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama area left 40 Indian paramilitary personnel killed.

India blamed Pakistan for the attack that was masterminded by terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Sushma Swaraj said: "It was not a military op, no military installation targeted. The objective was to act against the terrorist infrastructure of JeM to preempt another terror attack in India. India doesn't wish to see further escalation of situation. It'll continue to act with responsibility and restraint."

Sushma Swaraj is currently visiting China to attend the 16th Russia-India-China or RIC foreign ministers' meeting in Wuzhen.

US asks Pakistan to act against terrorists:

A day after the Indian Air Force jets destroyed a major terror training camp across the Line of Control, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups operating on its soil.

" Following Indian counter-terrorism actions on February 26, I spoke with Indian Minister of External Affairs Swaraj to emphasize our close security partnership and shared goal of maintaining peace and security in the region. I also spoke to Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi to underscore the priority of de-escalating current tensions by avoiding military action, and the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil," Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeo also asked India and Pakistan to "exercise restraint" amid heightened tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations following the Pulwama attack.

"I expressed to both Ministers that we encourage India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, and avoid escalation at any cost. I also encouraged both Ministers to prioritize direct communication and avoid further military activity," Pompeo said.

India hits back with Surgical Strike:

Paying back Pakistan days after the Pulwama terror attack which left over 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead, the Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted a pre-dawn surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) destroying what it called the biggest camp of terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

The Pulwama attack was carried out by Pakistan-based militant organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) on Feb 14 in Kashmir, triggering a nationwide outrage in India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi swearing that the perpetrators would not go unpunished.

The Indian government on Tuesday said the Indian Air Force (IAF) had carried out a "non-military pre-emptive" surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Briefing the media, India's foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said it was a non-military pre-emptive strike aimed at Jaish camps.

He said India repeatedly urged Pakistan to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil but without any action.

"A pre-emptive strike became absolutely necessary," he said even as government sources were quoted in media claiming that about 300 militants were killed in the pre-dawn strikes in which 1,000 kg bombs were dropped on Jaish bases across the LoC by multiple jets, including 12 IAF’s Mirage 2000 that took off from Gwalior.

Justifying the action, Gokhale said: "India has been repeatedly urging Pakistan to take action against the JeM to prevent jihadis from being trained and armed inside Pakistan. Pakistan has taken no concrete actions to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil.

"Credible intelligence was received that JeM was attempting another suicide terror attack in various parts of the country, and the fidayeen jihadis were being trained for this purpose. In the face of imminent danger, a preemptive strike became absolutely necessary."

Pakistan denies but asks its forces to remain prepared:

Pakistan's defence spokesperson, however, claimed in a tweet soon after the attack: "Indian aircrafts’ intrusion across LOC in Muzafarabad Sector within AJ&K was 3-4 miles.Under forced hasty withdrawal aircrafts released payload which had free fall in open area. No infrastructure got hit, no casualties. Technical details and other important information to follow."

Rejecting India's claims of surgical strike, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's party PTI said on Twitter, "Once again Indian government has resorted to a self serving, reckless and fictitious claim."

Khan has asked his armed forces and people to remain prepared for all eventualities.

 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.