NEW DELHI: Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that all attempts will be made to secure the release of our soldier who inadvertently crossed over to Pakistan yesterday.
"All attempts are being made to secure his release," Rajnath told reporters after attending a meet to discuss internal security situation. The home minister also said that New Delhi will take up the matter with Islamabad for his early release.
Chandu Babulal Chohan, a 22-year-old jawan inadvertently crossed the LoC on Thursday, the day when the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes along the Line of Control. India had carried out strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC with the Army inflicting "significant casualties" on terrorists preparing to infiltrate from PoK. Chohan, however, was not a part of the surgical strike, the Army later clarified. The Indian Army had yesterday also rejected as "false and baseless" reports in a section of Pakistani media that eight Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistani military in retaliatory fire. Indian Army sources said, "As regard (to the) report of killing of eight Indian Army personnel reported in sections of Pakistan media, the report is completely false and baseless." Army's reaction had come after Dawn News reported that Pakistani military has claimed that it has killed eight Indian soldiers and captured one while retaliating to India's firing at the first line of defence at the Line of Control (LoC) at Tatta Pani.
Why It Took Indian Army 10 Days To Avenge Uri
NEW DELHI: It took the Indian Army 10 days to avenge the terror attack on its Uri camp but it had got the green signal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry out surgical strikes within a day.
Modi, who reacted to the killing of 18 jawans by vowing not to let the provocation go "unpunished", had, at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on September 19, authorised the Army to exercise whatever military option was considered the most effective. While the government followed the routine of summoning Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit and worked energetically to isolate Pakistan diplomatically, Modi refused, contrary to the perception in many quarters, to take military options off the table.
The 10-day lag was because the Army needed time to prepare itself to launch its first formally-declared operation across the LoC since 1971, sources said. Army commanders decided to wait till the waning of the moon to carry out the night strike. The Army crossed the LoC two days before Amavasya or the new moon, said a highly-placed source who denied that the ongoing UNGA session was one of the reasons why the Army had delayed its response. The fateful CCS meeting saw the PM insist that all steps needed to give an "effective response" be examined. He asked national security adviser A K Doval and Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag to examine every feasible military responses, junking the posture of 'strategic restraint' followed under the UPA which forbade the Army from striking at terror camps across the border for fear of escalation and, eventually, full-scale confrontation between two nuclear-armed countries.
Focused on retaliation against what he called an "act of aggression" by Pakistan, a source close to the operation said while Modi was not spoiling for a war, the prospect of full-scale hostilities was not a deterrent for him either. The PM did not comment on Thursday but people in the loop said he was extremely pleased by the success of the operation, especially because all the jawans had returned safely. "This is a big achievement as their safety was a big worry for the government.Nine of them suffered injuries but that is unavoidable when you engage in something as audacious and risky as venturing 6.5 km into the terrain of your sworn enemy ," a senior government official said. "It is extremely gratifying that none of them is seriously injured," he added, emphasising that the top directive to the units concerned was to return safely and without leaving anyone behind. TNN
Meanwhile,
1 more soldier injured in Uri attack dies; toll touches 19
New Delhi, Sep 30: One more soldier, who was critically injured in the terror attack on Army's Uri base 12 days ago, today died of his wounds, taking the total number of army personnel killed in the strike to 19. Naik Raj Kishore Singh was undergoing treatment at Army's Research and Referral Hospital here. He succumbed to his injuries, defence sources said. Singh was a resident of Piprati village in Ara tehsil in Bhojpur district of Bihar. The Uri Army base was attacked by heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists on September 18 in which 18 soldiers were killed. India carried out surgical strikes on seven terror launch pads across the LoC on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, seen as a reprisal for the Uri attack. PTI
HAL, which keeps IAF flying, on alert
BENGALURU: Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which maintains IAF's fighter aircraft, has been put on high alert with compulsory overtime (no regular shifts) in place and engineers and technicians have been instructed to keep their bags ready for travel when required.
HAL's brass met its staff across units — Sukhoi, MiG, Mirage, Jaguar and other helicopter platforms — for 40 minutes on Thursday. "This followed the midnight meeings in Delhi. From Saturday, HAL technicians, engineers and managers will have to work up to 11pm every day. Managers motivated us to stay committed to our work, saying it is of national importance," said a source. "It reminded us of the Kargil conflict in 1999 when we did not go home for weeks," he said.
HAL is the fourth line of service when aircraft develop problems. "The first two lines of servicing happen at the squadron level. The third line, which requires a higher degree of repair work, goes to base repair depots (BRD). For repairs on the engine, avionics and other major control systems it goes to the manufacturer/assembler," a retired Air Officer-in-charge Maintenance of IAF said.
An HAL official, confirming the alert, said, "We do the Sukhoi and MiG platforms in Nashik, while all the European platforms of fixed wing fighters (Mirage and Jaguar) are done in Bengaluru."
During Kargil conflict, a retired HAL employee said, "Technicians worked for more than two months. We have strong workers' unions here." The source said managers have taken unions into confidence at the meeting.
Security reviewed at key installations
With heightened tension between India and Pakistan, the government on Thursday reviewed the security of airports, seaports, nuclear installations and other vital infrastructures guarded by the CISF. Sources said newly appointed CISF chief O P Singh met home minister Rajnath Singh and briefed him about the security measures undertaken by the force at various civil airports and vital aerospace installations.