New Delhi: A senior Pakistani official was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday, two days after three Indian soldiers were killed battling infiltrators in Jammu and Kashmir.
While it is not known who the official is, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that it lodged strong protest and further asked the Government of Pakistan to claim the dead bodies of the intruders.
Mincing no words, India called Pakistan’s claims of promoting constructive engagement and desire for peace “hollow” and said that the Imran Khan-led government was complicit in aiding and abetting terrorism.
The ministry also slammed Pakistan for carrying out 1,591 incidents of unprovoked ceasefire violations along the LoC and International Border in 2018 so far.
“A senior official in the High Commission for Pakistan in New Delhi was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs and a demarche was made lodging strong protest at the fatal casualties of Indian soldiers during an attempted cross border infiltration on 21 October 2018 by Pakistani terrorists in Sunderbani Sector in Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said.
“Pakistan was called on to abide by its bilateral commitment not to allow any territory under its control to be used to support terrorism against India in any manner,” it added.
The development comes a day after the Indian army asked the Pakistan military to take back bodies of two "intruders" from that country who were killed in a gunfight along the Line of Control in Sunderbani sector of Jammu on Sunday.
Two heavily armed Pakistani intruders and three soldiers were killed on Sunday in a gunfight after the Army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said.
The slain intruders are believed to be members of a Border Action Team (BAT) comprising Pakistan Army jawans and trained militants, an army officer said on condition of anonymity.
The government had on Monday lambasted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for meddling in India’s internal affairs as it took a stern view of his statement on Kashmir.
Calling Khan’s tweet deeply regrettable, the external affairs ministry said that instead of making remarks on India’s internal affairs, the Pakistan leadership should look inward and address its own issues.
“Pakistan would serve interest of people of the region by taking credible action against all kind of support to terrorism and terror infrastructure from all territories under its control rather than supporting terror activities against India and its other neighbours,” the MEA said in a statement.
The ministry was responding to Khan’s tweet on Monday in which he "strongly condemned the new cycle of killings of innocent Kashmiris by Indian security forces.”
In September, New Delhi called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan, citing killings of Indian security personnel by Pakistan-based entities and the release of Pakistani postage stamps "glorifying a terrorist and terrorism".
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