NEW DELHI: Indian Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh was on Monday suddenly called by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to brief him about the ceasefire violations allegedly by Pakistan on the Line of Control in Kashmir, days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voiced concern over the handling of Keran operations in the disputed territory.

Gen Singh, who was chairing a meeting attended by senior commanders, left the conference following a communication from Mr Antony’s office.

The unscheduled briefing by the army chief comes after Prime Minister Singh conveyed concern to the defence ministry over the handling of army operations in Keran area where the army claimed to have killed 12-13 members of a group of 30-40 suspected terrorists in an operation that lasted 15 days before it was called off on Oct 8 when not a single body was found.

The defence minister was briefed by the army chief on the situation on the LoC and frequent ceasefire violations allegedly by the Pakistan Army, defence ministry officials said.

Mr Antony will now hold a detailed review meeting with National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon and the three services chiefs next week where the Keran issue is expected to come up for discussion.

It is learnt that the prime minister expressed concern over the [Keran] incident as a lot of “exaggerated claims” were made by formations about their success there but the results did not match the claims.

By arrangement with the Times of India