Uri attack: We're ready to respond to any challenge, says Pakistan Army

Islamabad: Amid growing tension with India, Pakistan’s military on Tuesday said the armed forces were closely monitoring the situation on the eastern border.
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa – the chief spokesman of the army – said the army was “fully prepared to respond to any attack.”

The meeting headed by army chief General Raheel Sharif reviewed the security at the border with Afghanistan. Diplomatic tensions have spiked between India and Pakistan since the September 18 attack on an army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 18 Indian soldiers.

Bajwa said that the meeting discussed the steps being taken for border management by the armed forces. Addressing a news conference in Peshawar, he said Pakistan wanted peace but was prepared to respond to any challenge.

He said the work has been completed on 20 posts set up for border management to control the movement of terrorists but the process would be more effective if Afghan side cooperate.

General Bajwa said the security forces had prevented 14 terrorist attacks in various parts of the country in recent months.Meanwhile, Pakistan also will approach the UN and the International Court of Justice if India suspends the 58-year-old Indus Waters Treaty, the country's top diplomat Sartaj Aziz said on Tuesday, insisting the revocation of the treaty can be taken as an “act of war”.

“The international law states that India cannot unilaterally separate from the treaty,” Aziz, Advisor to PM Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, said while briefing the National Assembly.

High alert at Pathankot
High alert was sounded in Pathankot on Tuesday following inputs about suspicious movement of armed men in army uniform with Punjab Police launching a massive search operation near the army base area located alongside the Pathankot-Dalhousie road.

Following the input, the search operation was launched at a massive scale in around 4-5 km area near army cantonment along side Dalhousie road, police said.

Searches were also conducted near Chakki river. Himachal Pradesh police was also alerted about the suspicious movement, and they also conducted a search in their area, police said. However, the search operation which went on for five hours, was suspended during night with police saying it will resume on Wednesday.