India to pay dearly in case of war, says Pak army chief

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 07, 2015, DHNS : Pakistani army chief Gen Raheel Sharif warned India of “unbearable cost” in case of a war and raised pitch on the issue of Kashmir, calling it an “unfinished agenda” of partition.

“Let me reiterate that our armed forces stand fully capable to defeat all sorts of external aggression. If the enemy ever resorts to any misadventure, regardless of its size and scale — short or long — it will have to pay an unbearable cost,” Gen Sharif said on Sunday, addressing a special event at the Pakistani Army’s headquarters in Rawalpindi to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

New Delhi on Monday dismissed the Pakistani Army chief’s rhetoric, which came just ahead of a meeting between chiefs of the border guards of the two neighbouring countries. Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office, said the only unfinished agenda for India was to end illegal occupation of parts of Kashmir by Pakistan.

“The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir was and will remain integral part of India,” said Singh. “If there is any subject related to Jammu and Kashmir, it is how the parts of Kashmir, illegally occupied by Pakistan, can again be included in India,” he added.

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress almost echoed each other while dismissing Gen Sharif’s remarks as “irrational” and “empty boasts”. “Armed forces of Pakistan are fully capable of dealing with all types of internal and external threats, may it be conventional or sub-conventional; whether it is cold start or hot start. We are ready,” PTI reported quoting the Pakistani Army chief.

His remark was apparently a response to Indian Army chief Gen Dalbir Suhaag, who last week said that India’s armed forces were prepared for “swift, short nature of future wars”. Gen Sharif said the issue of Kashmir could not be put on the back-burner and should be resolved according to the United Nations’ resolution, which called for a plebiscite.

A day after Gen Sharif’s rhetoric, Pakistani Army personnel once again violated ceasefire along the Line of Control and resorted to unprovoked firing on the Army posts as well as villages in India.

A villager was killed after being injured by a mortar shell fired by the Pakistani Army. Four others were injured. This was the ninth ceasefire violation by the Pakistani Army along the LoC since September 1.

The DG, BSF of India, and his counterpart in Pakistan Rangers are likely to meet in New Delhi from September 9 to 13. The discussion will focus on possible measures to maintain ceasefire along the undisputed stretch of India-Pakistan border and avert its violations.

This is expected to be followed by another meeting between Indian Army DGMO and his counterpart in Pakistani Army on maintaining ceasefire along the LoC. The meeting between the chiefs of the border guards was the second in the series of engagements Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister M Nawaz Sharif agreed upon at Ufa in Russia on July 10.

The first talks between two the prime ministers’ National Security Advisors, scheduled on August 24, was called off by Pakistan after India asked it to drop Kashmir issue from the agenda and not to consult Kashmiri separatists before the parleys in New Delhi.

Indian officials have been blaming Pakistan’s military establishment for trying to sabotage engagements agreed upon by the elected leaders of the two nations.