The Army on Monday said it reserves the right to respond to any cross-border terror attack 'at the time and place of our own choosing', a day after the Uri strike that was blamed on a Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed sparking calls for exercising military options.
The Army also said it has the desired capability to respond to any blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us.
The remarks by Director General of Military Operations, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh came at a time when some security experts and political leaders have called for targeting terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir after the attack that left 18 soldiers dead and over two dozen injured.
‘The Indian Army has displayed considerable restraint while handling the terrorist situation both along the Line of Control and in hinterland. However, we have the desired capability to respond to such blatant acts of aggression and violence as deemed appropriate by us,’ Lt Gen Singh said in a statement to the media at the South Block.
‘We reserve the right to respond to any act of the adversary at the time and place of our own choosing,’ he added.
Lt Gen Singh’s remark was identical to the statement given by then Army chief Gen Bikram Singh in 2013 after the January 8 violation of the LoC in which one jawan was beheaded and the other had his throat slit.
“We’ll give them a fitting reply...we will respond at a time and place of our choosing,” he had said.
Following the Pathankot attack earlier this year, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had also said the same.
However, top Army sources told PTI that action will be taken but nature and timing of it will not be revealed at the moment.
“There should be an element of surprise which is not there at the moment as Pakistan will be prepared for retaliation. The Indian Army of course has its strategy in place and will do its job,” the sources said.
Parrikar had been briefed by the Northern Army and Chinar Corps Commanders Lt Gen D S Hooda and Lt Gen Satish Dua respectively at Srinagar on Sunday about the incident and the operation launched to neutralise the terrorists.
The briefing included discussions on the soft points and how the terrorists managed to get in.
Defence sources had said possible ‘action plan’ was also discussed about how the Army can respond to the attack.
Sources said the decision will be taken at a higher level on the kind of action to be taken but this would be highly confidential.
On Monday, Parrikar met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and later had a meeting at his office with Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said the total recoveries from the slain terrorists is four AK 47 rifles, four Under Barrel Grenade Launchers, 39 Under Barrel Grenade Launcher grenades, five hand grenades, two radio sets, two global positioning system devices, two map sheets, two matrix sheets, one mobile phone and a large number of food and medicine packets having Pakistani markings.
Lt Gen Singh said infiltration attempts by terrorists have shown a marked increase in comparison to the past 3-4 years.
“In 2016, there have been 17 infiltration bids eliminated by the Indian Army along the Line of Control. Of a total of 110 terrorists eliminated in J&K, 31 have been killed while they were attempting to cross the Line of Control,” he said.
It actually indicates a desperate attempt from across the LoC to infiltrate more terrorists into Kashmir with a view to create disturbance and foment unrest in our area, he added.
The officer said the last two infiltration attempts -- September 11 in Poonch and September 18 at Uri -- were successfully thwarted by the Indian Army by killing of four terrorists in each of the operations.
IMAGE: Soldiers guard outside the army base which was attacked by terrorists in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday. Photograph: PTI Photo