NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday said India wants good relations with Pakistan and wondered why the neighbouring country resorts to repeated ceasefire violations.
“Pakistan is our neighbour and we want good relations with all our neighbours,” he said to a media query on the repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan.
“But the Pakistan government should also take initiative so that ceasefire violations do not take place,” he said.
Rajnath Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif during his oath-taking ceremony in May last year and conveyed that “we not only want to shake hands, but also want deeper ties”.
“Despite that, why does Pakistan always violate the ceasefire,” he asked.
The home minister’s comments come in the wake of Pakistani shelling and firing along the international boundary in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba and Kathua districts that left at least three – two soldiers and a woman – dead and 10 others injured.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah meanwhile said India has been giving a “befitting reply” to Pakistan since the National Democratic Alliance government has come to power.
“After BJP formed the government, Indian forces have been giving fitting reply whenever there have been ceasefire violations and will continue to do so in future,” Shah told reporters in Bengaluru.
Outgoing Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Pakistan plan to enter via sea route busted and now they are trying via Samba and Hiranagar.”
A woman was killed and eight other people were injured Saturday in Pakistani shelling along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba and Kathua districts.
Meanwhile, two soldiers were killed and two others injured in a blaze triggered by rocket propelled grenades fired by Pakistan at Indian Army bunkers along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector in Kupwara district.
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