In view of repeated ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan, Defence Minister of India A K Antony held an hour-long review meeting with the heads of the armed forces on Monday.
National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Army Chief General Bikram Singh, Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, Indian Air Force, Navy chief Admiral D K Joshi and Defence Secretary R K Mathur attended the review meeting.
During the meeting, Antony asked the armed forces to maintain "a high-level of alert" along the border with Pakistan. The army chief apprised the Defence Minister of the situation along the border and the measures taken to defuse the tension.
This is the first high-level review meeting headed by the Defence Minister after the anti-militancy operation by the Indian Army last month in Keran sector along the LoC.
India is said to have recorded over 200 incidents of ceasefire violations, which are minor skirmishes. This is said to be the highest number in a year in last 10 years. While over 180 skirmishes occurred across the LoC, about 50 were recorded along the 200 kilometres long International Border in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian army has instructed the commanders on the border to respond strongly to any incident of ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troupe.
Pakistan meanwhile did not respond to the low-level flag meeting initiated by the Border Security Force (BSF) on Monday in R S Pura sector in Jammu. The BSF officials said that the Pakistani rangers did not respond to the meeting invite by the Indian officials. This is the third failed attempt by India to hold flag meeting across the border to defuse the tension created by the incidents of ceasefire violations.
India has conveyed its concerns about the increasing incidents of ceasefire violation across the border by the Pakistani troupes strongly to Pakistan during communication through hotline between the Director Generals of Military Operations of both the nations.
Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif met in New York last month where the concern of skirmishes were expressed and Sharif had agreed to resolve the issue.
