National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon on Tuesday briefed senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley on the ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC)
Menon's meeting with the senior BJP leaders took place at Sushma Swaraj's residence in the capital.
Earlier, speaking to the senior opposition leaders about the escalating tension with Pakistan along the LoC, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had assured both the BJP leaders that the opposition would be kept in loop over the situation.
Tension between the two Asian neighbours has escalated ever since Indian jawan Lance Naik Hemraj Singh was beheaded in an attack by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control on January 8. Sushma Swaraj, who met the family members of martyr Lance Naik Hemraj Singh in Mathura earlier on Monday, demanded strict actions from the Indian government over the ceasefire violations by Pakistan. She was accompanied by BJP president Nitin Gadkari.
"We would demand both things from the government-firstly to seek apology from the family and the country for the apathy and also take revenge from Pakistan. Today, the country is demanding that we don't prove to be a weak government. The country will not accept the fact that our soldier is beheaded after crossing the Line of Control (LoC) and there is no reaction in retaliation from the government's side," she told mediapersons after meeting the martyr's kin.
India on Monday lodged a strong protest against the ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the LoC and made it clear to it that the Army reserves the right to retaliate if provoked. The Army's position was conveyed at a brigadier-level flag meeting between the two sides at Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing-point in Poonch sector of the Jammu region
Chief of army staff, General Bikram Singh, on Monday said Pakistan had pre-planned the whole operation, and added that the beheading and the mutilation of the bodies of two Indian jawans along the LoC was against all rules of engagement, gruesome and unpardonable.
Conveying his condolences to the families of the two Indian jawans killed by Pakistani troops, General Singh said Pakistani action is against the ethics and principle of soldiering. "My heart especially goes out today to the families of two soldiers who were killed on January 8, who were mutilated after the operation. It was a gruesome act, most unpardonable act. We have launched a very strong protest in this regard through the government, through the Director General of Military Operation (DGMO)," said General Singh
"Alongside, this act it defies all logic, it is against the very principles and rules of engagement. It is against the very ethics of soldiering and professionalism. And therefore, in very strong terms we have taken up this case with the Government of Pakistan through our government. The DGMOs have conveyed this in the talk," he added.
