NEW DELHI, April 16: Pakistani troops were reported on Wednesday to be targeting India’s “forward defence locations” in Kashmir as verbal exchanges between their senior officials refused to abate, with Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal characterizing Pakistan as the world’s “most irresponsible state”.
Press Trust of India quoted official sources in Kashmir as saying on Wednesday, “Pakistani troops (had) continued targeting Forward Defence Locations and civilian areas with mortar and light arms fire in Bhawani and Noushera sectors of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir.”
They said the firing and shelling from across the Line of Control started from 2030 hours on Tuesday and continued throughout the night. Indian troops retaliated, they added.
A few houses were damaged in Seeri and Makri areas of Noushera sector due to the shelling, PTI said. However, there was no report of any causality on the Indian side, it quoted the official sources as saying.
“Any damage on the enemy side in retaliatory action could not be ascertained,” the sources said.
Pakistani troops had also targeted Bhawani and Noushera sector from early Tuesday in which an army havaldar and a woman were killed and two youths injured, PTI said.
Reports from what India calls the International Border in Kashmir said intermittent exchange of light arms fire took place at some places in Samba and R. S. Pura sectors in Jammu district on Tuesday night without any loss of life or damage to property on the Indian side.
The firing coincided with what PTI described as an “acerbic attack” on India on Tuesday by Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri who described Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha’s remarks on pre-emptive strikes as irresponsible.
In response, the Indian foreign secretary Sibal dubbed Pakistan as itself being the world’s “most irresponsible country”.
“They continue to foment violence in India and sponsor terrorism against it. Is that being responsible? In fact, I would say that Pakistan is probably the most irresponsible country in the world,” Mr Sibal told a television channel, as the wordy duel trundled on.
Mr Kasuri had on Tuesday warned India of massive retaliation if it tried to launch a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan, contending that Islamabad had a more advanced missile programme than New Delhi.
Mr Sibal said Islamabad was irresponsible to its own people because it has not been able to give them democracy, irresponsible to the region because it has blocked normal progress, peace and stability through its policies.
He said Pakistan was also irresponsible because of the volatile mixture of international terrorism, Islamic fundamentalism and weapons of mass destruction.
“They are the last people to talk about India being irresponsible,” he said.
Asked about Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali’s statement that Pakistan would “use all that it has” against India while claiming that his country was more advanced in missile capabilities, Mr Sibal said, “the implication of course is that they are willing to use weapons of mass destruction against India. Is that responsible?”.
“We have not said anything of that kind at all,” Mr Sibal said.
