"Pakistan has promoted terrorism," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said. (File Photo)
Highlights
- Manohar Parrikar drew an equivalence between Pakistan and hell.
- Pakistan has promoted terrorism, Mr Parrikar said.
- 5 terrorists were killed as the Army foiled an infiltration bid.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today described Pakistan as "hell" while asserting that yesterday, soldiers in Kashmir prevented five terrorists from crossing the border into India.
"Our soldiers sent back five terrorists yesterday. Going to Pakistan is same as going to Hell," the minister declared.
Mr Parrikar also echoed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in stating that Pakistan must stop violating human rights in the portion of Kashmir that it illegally occupies as well as Balochistan, the huge restive province that's seeking independence from Pakistan.
In his Independence Day address yesterday, the PM invoked Balochistan to continue the argument that he made last week -that Pakistan can ill afford to accuse India of excessive force in the Kashmir Valley, which is undergoing its worst unrest in six years.
India has accused Pakistan of inciting the violence that began last month with the shooting of 22-year-old terrorist Burhan Wani, who glamourised militancy for young men in the region and has been eulogized by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as a martyr.
Nearly 60 people have died in the Kashmir Valley since Wani was killed; over 5,000 have been injured, more than half of them security personnel.
The region remains under curfew a month later.