Border row: If Pak persists with ‘adventurism’, India will make costs ‘unaffordable’, says Arun Jaitley
Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced following one of the worst ceasefire violations
New Delhi/Jammu: As Pakistan traded heavy mortar and gunfire along the international border, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley warned that as "Pakistan has clearly been the aggressor, they must realize our deterrents will be credible. If Pakistan persists with this adventurism, our forces will make the cost of this adventurism unaffordable."
This has been the worst violence in over a decade along the International Border, 8 civilians have been killed in India and at least 30 others have suffered grave injuries.
Jaitley said, “India is never an aggressor, it is a responsible state, but it has a paramount duty to protect its people. India's forces have only one option - that is to respond adequately and defend our territory and our people.”
A villager looks through the window of a house whose walls are damaged in firing from the Pakistan side of the border at Chilyari village of Samba sector in Jammu (Photo: AP)
Pakistani troops targeted 60 BSF outposts and villagers on Wednesday night in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, leaving 8 people injured, including 3 BSF personnel.
Pakistan Rangers shelled almost the entire 192-km border during the night. Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced following one of the worst violations of the 2003 ceasefire by Pakistan.
Read: India gives fitting reply to unprovoked Pakistan shelling at border; toll India 8, Pak 12
"Pakistani Rangers continued with unprovoked mortar shelling and heavy automatic weapon firing on BSF posts all along International Border (IB) since 2045 hours last night", a BSF spokesman said on Thursday.
An elderly woman displays the mortar shell fired from the Pakistani side at Arnia in Jammu (Photo: PTI)
"Almost the whole stretch of International Border in Samba, Hiranagar, Ramgarh, Arnia, R S Pura, Kanachak and Pargwal (Sub-sectors) was affected in the firing," he said.
"About 60 BSF border outposts were affected by the fire from Pakistan side," the spokesman said, adding BSF troops retaliated in a "calibrated manner".
Read: Ceasefire violations continue: Everything will be fine on the border, assures PM Modi
Firing exchanges continued till Thursday morning in Pargwal, Kanachak, Arnia and Samba sub-sectors.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the defence forces were giving a "befitting" reply to the Pakistani onslaught and the country will not bow down before anyone.
A man injured by the shelling from the Pakistan side being taken to a government hospital in Jammu (Photo: PTI)
"I want to assure the people that we will not let down our country," he said on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that "everything will be fine soon" on Pakistan border.
Read: Pak Army behind Rangers involved in ceasefire violations: Govt
"The Prime Minister is keeping a close eye on the situation. He does not need to speak as our Army and BSF personnel are giving a befitting response and we are satisfied with it," Singh said amid questions being raised by the Opposition on government's response to the ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
According to officials, over 90 border villages have been hit by mortar shelling and firing by Pakistan since Wednesday night. While 57 hamlets were hit in Kathua district, others have been targeted in Jammu and Samba districts.