New Delhi:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley on Monday evening and discussed the tension along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, sources have told NDTV.
Sources added that Ms Swaraj and Mr Jaitley, leaders of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, will be briefed by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon tomorrow on the situation at the LoC and the government's plans.
During the conversation, the PM assured the two BJP leaders that the Opposition would be kept in loop over the situation, according to Press Trust of India. Dr Singh, reportedly, assured the two leaders that nothing is being done which could not be communicated to the Leaders of Opposition in Parliament.
The PM also reportedly appealed to them that the issue should not be politicised.
The tension along the LoC began on January 6 when the Pakistani army accused India of killing one of its soldiers and wounding another in a cross-border attack. India said its troops had opened fire following a Pakistani mortar attack, but denied they crossed the border. Two days later Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and mutilated the bodies of two jawans - Lance Naiks Hemraj Singh and Sudhakar Singh - killed in Pakistani firing; Hemraj's body was decapitated and the head is missing.
Earlier today, Ms Swaraj said that if India cannot recover the head of Lance Naik Hemraj Singh, they should at least bring back ten Pakistani heads. "The incident that has happened, we should take revenge. Today, the country is demanding that we should not be proved a weak government... If we don't get this (Lance Naik Hemraj Singh's) head, we should get ten of theirs (Pakistan army's)," she said.
"The question is, will we sit without any reaction and engage in a dialogue? This should not happen. At least the government should react in some way. That is why we have said that government should take some tough measures," Ms Swaraj added.
The senior BJP leader, along with party president Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh, was visiting Hemraj's family in Shernagar, Uttar Pradesh. The martyr's wife and mother were on an indefinite fast demanding that his head be found and returned.
India has lodged a strong protest against ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC and also expressed concern at the barbaric way Pakistani troops treated the bodies of Lance Naik Hemraj.
At a 35-minute flag-meeting of brigade commanders in Poonch in Kashmir today, the Indian Army also warned Pakistan that such a "dastardly and cowardly act" was unacceptable and that it was a premeditated attempt to undermine the cease-fire agreement signed between the two countries in 2003. It said that a repetition of such acts would not be tolerated and that it if did, the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate at a point and time of its choosing.
Four soldiers have been killed in the last one week at the LoC. It marks a peak in hostility since 2003, when the ceasefire was agreed upon.
(With inputs from PTI)
Sources added that Ms Swaraj and Mr Jaitley, leaders of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, will be briefed by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon tomorrow on the situation at the LoC and the government's plans.
During the conversation, the PM assured the two BJP leaders that the Opposition would be kept in loop over the situation, according to Press Trust of India. Dr Singh, reportedly, assured the two leaders that nothing is being done which could not be communicated to the Leaders of Opposition in Parliament.
The PM also reportedly appealed to them that the issue should not be politicised.
The tension along the LoC began on January 6 when the Pakistani army accused India of killing one of its soldiers and wounding another in a cross-border attack. India said its troops had opened fire following a Pakistani mortar attack, but denied they crossed the border. Two days later Pakistani troops violated ceasefire and mutilated the bodies of two jawans - Lance Naiks Hemraj Singh and Sudhakar Singh - killed in Pakistani firing; Hemraj's body was decapitated and the head is missing.
Earlier today, Ms Swaraj said that if India cannot recover the head of Lance Naik Hemraj Singh, they should at least bring back ten Pakistani heads. "The incident that has happened, we should take revenge. Today, the country is demanding that we should not be proved a weak government... If we don't get this (Lance Naik Hemraj Singh's) head, we should get ten of theirs (Pakistan army's)," she said.
"The question is, will we sit without any reaction and engage in a dialogue? This should not happen. At least the government should react in some way. That is why we have said that government should take some tough measures," Ms Swaraj added.
The senior BJP leader, along with party president Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh, was visiting Hemraj's family in Shernagar, Uttar Pradesh. The martyr's wife and mother were on an indefinite fast demanding that his head be found and returned.
India has lodged a strong protest against ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC and also expressed concern at the barbaric way Pakistani troops treated the bodies of Lance Naik Hemraj.
At a 35-minute flag-meeting of brigade commanders in Poonch in Kashmir today, the Indian Army also warned Pakistan that such a "dastardly and cowardly act" was unacceptable and that it was a premeditated attempt to undermine the cease-fire agreement signed between the two countries in 2003. It said that a repetition of such acts would not be tolerated and that it if did, the Indian Army reserves the right to retaliate at a point and time of its choosing.
Four soldiers have been killed in the last one week at the LoC. It marks a peak in hostility since 2003, when the ceasefire was agreed upon.
(With inputs from PTI)
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