On Hotline, Pakistan Warns India Against 'Misadventures', Threatens Response

New Delhi: India today warned Pakistan of an "unequivocal" response to the killing and mutilation of two soldiers yesterday along the Line of Control in Kashmir. Pakistan, which has denied the barbaric act, said in response today that India "should look inwards" to determine how the soldiers were killed, sought "actionable evidence" of India's claims, and warned "any misadventure shall be appropriately responded at a place and time of own choosing."

The recriminations were exchanged between top commanders of India and Pakistan - the Director General of Military Operations, Lieutenant General AK Bhatt, spoke on a hotline to his counterpart across the border hours after Delhi warned that the army will exact revenge for the atrocities committed on Prem Sagar and Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh. Both men were part of a team patrolling the Line of Control or de facto border in the Poonch sector last morning when two posts were assaulted with rockets and mortar bombs.

The soldiers - one from the Border Security Force and the other from the army - were honoured as heroes this morning before their bodies were transported to their families in Tarn Taran in Punjab and Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. Prem Sagar's daughter said "We want 50 heads to avenge him."

India says a team of Pakistani soldiers and terrorists sneaked past the Line of Control and entered Indian territory under the cover of heavy fire from the Pakistani army, "Full fire support provided by Pak Army Post located in vicinity of the incident," India conveyed over the hotline today, describing the mutilation of the soldiers as a "dastardly and inhuman act" deserving of "unequivocal condemnation and response."

In September, India responded to a massive attack by Pakistani terrorists on an army camp in Uri in Kashmir by sending soldiers across the Line of Control to take out staging areas for terrorists in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Delhi warned at the time that it could repeat the action.