India rebuts Pakistan’s charge of unprovoked firing

New Delhi, Oct 30: The Indian Army on Monday rebutted the Pakistan Army's charge that its soldiers and civilians along the Line of Control were being targeted. Pakistan Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza had called his Indian counterpart Lt Gen AK Bhat this afternoon to make the allegations and sought talks on the issue. Lt Gen Bhatt rejected the charges and empathetically said that the retaliatory firing by Indian forces had been carried out in response to unabated support given by Pakistan Army to armed terrorists who infiltrate across the border and target Indian Army posts with heavy calibre weapons. He made it clear that Indian Army always maintains impeccable standards of professionalism and does not target civilians. On the contrary Pakistan Army, Lt Gen Bhatt said, has employed civilians at the forward posts and accorded permission for permanent locations of civilians in the vicinity of Pakistan Army posts. These civilians have repeatedly been used for gaining information of our locations and providing guides to terrorists while crossing the LoC. Lt Gen Bhatt in the unscheduled hot line interaction told the Pakistan DGMO that the Pakistan army' support to terrorists is unacceptable and the Indian Army will continue to take retaliatory measures as well as retain the right to punitively respond to such provocations and acts of aggression beyond the border side in future too. UNI