Surgical Strike: Pakistan warns of 'befitting response'; Raheel Sharif says no misadventure will go unpunished

Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif on Friday warned that any "misadventure" by any "adversary" will meet the "most befitting response", a day after India conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC).

Talking to troops at a newly developed Combat Reaction Training facility in the close vicinity of Lahore Garrison, General Raheel exhorted all commanders to lay more emphasis on combat readiness, emphasizing that training in peace time is the only guarantor of averting and winning war if imposed.

"Any misadventure by our adversary will meet the most befitting response," said Raheel adding that "Pakistan cannot be coerced through any amount of malicious propaganda". He also expressed his complete satisfaction over operational preparedness of the Army.

Indian operations have come at a time when Raheel Sharif had been in the midst of glory after getting pat for Operation Zarb-e-Azb against Tehreek-eTaliban (TTP) and other terrorist organisations in North Waziristan.

Meanwhile, chairing a special Cabinet meeting to review the security situation in the country, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan will take all necessary steps to protect its people and territorial integrity in case of any aggression or violation of the LoC.

Terming "Indian aggression" as a threat to the entire region, Sharif warned that Pakistan is also capable of executing surgical strikes and will not allow anyone to "cast an evil eye" on it.

Earlier, Pakistani army described India's surgical strikes as an "illusion" even as it admitted that two of its soldiers died in cross-LoC firing.

While Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif accused India of "unprovoked and naked aggression", implying that a transgression of the LoC had happened. But the Army claims they had never happened, but for the cross-border firing. Many see the reaction as a sign that Pakistan is not willing to escalate the situation immediately and will probably wait for the right opportunity to strike back.