India lodges strong protest with Pakistan over Uri terror attack
NEW DELHI : India has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over the recent Uri terror attack and continued cross border terrorism. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today summoned Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit in this regard.
Listing in front of him the items recovered from killed terrorists, Mr. Jaishankar said, India is ready to provide finger prints and DNA samples of terrorists if Pakistan wishes to investigate.
GPS, Grenades with Pakistani markings, Communication matrix sheets, Communication equipment, and Pakistan-made food, medicines and clothes were recovered from the killed terrorists. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told media that Mr. Jaishankar reminded Mr. Basit that Pakistan had made a solemn commitment in January 2004 for not allowing its soil or territory to be used for terrorism against India.
But, the persistent and growing violation of this undertaking is a matter of very serious concern.The Foreign Secretary also said, Uri terror attack only underlines that the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan remains active and India demands that neighbouring country lives up to its public commitment to refrain from supporting and sponsoring terrorism against India.
During the meeting, Mr. Jaishankar told the High Commissioner that beginning with the Pathankot airbase attack, this year, there have been continuous attempts by armed terrorists to cross the LoC and International Boundary to carry out attacks in India.
17 such attempts have been interdicted at the LoC, resulting in the elimination of thirty one terrorists. He added New Delhi now expects a response from Islamabad.
Later, addressing the press, MEA spokesperson said, “Foreign Secretary told Pakistan High Commissioner that even now two encounters between terrorists and Indian Army are underway at the border. We demand that Pakistan lives up to its public commitment of not allowing terror against India.”
“Uri attack shows that terror machinery in Pakistan is still thriving,” he further said, and added, “We have recovered a number of items like Pakistan mark grenades, communication equipment and food and medicines made in Pakistan. India is ready to provide finger prints and DNA samples of terrorists killed in Uri.
Meanwhile, four terrorists who stormed the Army base on Sunday killing 18 soldiers belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and managed to sneak in by cutting the perimeter fencing of the highly-guarded army installation at two places, investigations have shown.
In an indication that the terrorists were well-versed of the layout of the Army base close to the Line of Control (LoC), the assailants locked the cooking room and store from outside to prevent the soldiers from leaving before setting them afire, sources privy to the probe said today.
The investigators are not ruling out “insider help” to the terrorists in view of the precise nature of the actions undertaken by the intruders once inside the Army base, the sources said, adding the attackers first cut the perimeter fencing at two places, as per Agency report After locking the cooking room and store, two of the terrorists started moving towards the officers quarters within the base but they were gunned down before they could inflict any further damage, they said.
The two Global Positioning System (GPS) sets recovered from the slain militants were damaged during the attack and have been handed over to the NIA, which is probing the case.
The four intruders, who had crossed in from Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (Pok) a day earlier, were affiliated to LeT as the terrorist module bore striking resemblance to the group from the same Pakistan-based terror outfit eliminated in Poonch on September 11, the sources said.
