Pak Violating Ceasefire to Enable Infiltration: Army Chief
Army Chief Deepak Kapoor has said that the number of ceasefire infringements by Pakistan Army has gone up with a view to enable terrorists to intrude into Indian Territory before the onset of winters to “disrupt” the peaceful environment in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The attempts of ceasefire violation have increased because this enables infiltration to be carried out when the firing is on and can be used as a diversionary tactic. Their attempt is to infiltrate more and more people during ceasefire violation but we understand their tactics and take appropriate steps,” he told reporters.
He was answering a query as to why ceasefire violations by Pakistan have gone up besides more incidents of infiltration by militants.
“Attempts will be made by the other side to try and disrupt the stable and peaceful environment in Jammu and Kashmir and to push in as many infiltrators as possible before the winter sets in. It is the trend that we are witnessing and the attempts of infiltration are going on,” he said.
Kapoor was speaking to media persons following inking of a MoU between the Indira Gandhi National Open University and the Indian Army regarding imparting a graduate degree to its personnel below officer ranks (PBORs).
Emphasizing Army’s keenness on continuation of the ceasefire, Kapoor said, “We always raise the issue of ceasefire violation with Pakistan during border meetings and our effort is to continue the ceasefire so that there are not many casualties and the two countries are able to maintain right relations.”
He said that the Army exercises maximum possible restraint but takes retaliatory action whenever incidents of ceasefire violation take place.
About the MoU, he said, “We have signed the MoU by which we will ensure that all army men who retire from now onwards are armed with graduation degrees, which will enable them to go for a second career and also enhance the amount of workforce in the country.”
