Cross-border raids, increased artillery firepower and scaling up troop mobilisation along the Line of Control are among the options being deliberated upon by the army to retaliate against the unprovoked strike by Pakistani army and beheading of two Indian soldiers.
Army sources told DNA, precision strikes on Border Action Teams (BAT) of the Pakistani army that has the support of terrorists is something that the top brass is strategising. The Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) also raised the subject of BAT training camps close to the LoC.
Amid the strategising, India's DGMO Lt Gen A K Bhatia spoke to his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday expressing "grave concern" over the beheading of two Indian soldiers. He conveyed to his counterpart that fire support was provided by Pakistan army post in the area.
Hitting the terror launch pads along with maximising offensive against the Pakistan army is high on agenda, sources said.
Based on ground intelligence, the army has identified some of the Pakistani army posts and BAT training camps that need to be targeted.
Meanwhile, amid mounting anger against Pakistan for mutilating bodies of two soldiers, Army chief General Bipin Rawat asked the troops to remain vigilant and thwart any misadventure from other side of line of control (LoC).
"The army chief impressed upon all to remain vigilant and thwart any misadventure from across especially now as the summer sets in. During his interaction with troops, the general reassured them that the entire nation stood behind its soldiers in their brave endeavours to safeguard country's sovereignty and integrity and maintain peace in the Valley," said a defence spokesman quoting General Rawat.
According to sources Monday's attack in Krishna Ghati was launched by Pakistani army regulars who infiltrated 250 metres into Indian territory, killing an Army jawan and personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday.
"The DGMO of the Indian Army conveyed that such a dastardly and inhuman act is beyond any norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response," the army said in a statement.
According to recent intelligence inputs, many of these launch pads metres away from the Line of Control are active again getting support from the Pakistan army.
The Indian Army carried out "surgical strikes" in September 2016 destroying these terror launch pads.
"They will be expecting us to hit back. So we have to find the right place and right time to strike," army sources said.
Army chief Bipin Rawat who was on a scheduled visit to Kashmir inspected the frontier areas and interacting with commanders and troops along the LoC.
"The army chief impressed upon all to remain vigilant and thwart any misadventure from across especially now as the summer sets in," said an army statement. of two soldiers in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday.
The Indian DGMO on March 17 had communicated to his counterpart that Pakistani army was training terrorists for cross border raids into India to carry out strikes. Based on specific inputs a specific area was identified serving as a terror launchpad near the Line of Control.
This was the third instance of Pakistani army beheading Indian soldiers since the surgical strikes in September last year.
There is intelligence that Pakistan army is preparing for massive infiltration for terrorists in the summer months.
There have been 65 ceasefire violations by Pakistan at the Line of Control, army sources said.
In 2016, the number of violations spiralled to 225 from 150 in 2015 and 153 in 2014.
Last year's tally was high as a majority of these actions took place after Indian army's surgical strikes in September last year, army sources said.
ANALYSIS
The Indian Army has to strategise its response differently this time. Unlike the Uri surgical strikes, the Pakistanis will now be expecting a counter-strike.
Any action against uniformed personnel could lead to an immediate and potentially hard-to-control escalation in armed hostilities between the two nations. The trending hashtag “badla lo” describes the public mood.
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