File pic: Indian Army soldiers on a patrol in Kashmir
The Indian government summoned Pakistan's High Commissioner Salman Bashir this afternoon to protest against yesterday's attack in which Pakistani troops crossed over the Line of Control in Kashmir and killed two jawans. One of the bodies was found decapitated. The severed head is missing, top army sources said. The second body was also mutilated.
"The Pakistan envoy has been summoned to meet with the Foreign Secretary," ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.
Speaking to NDTV, Foreign Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid described the attack as "ghastly, inhuman and unacceptable." He said the attack "was extremely short-sighted on their (Pakistan's) part". Defence Minister AK Antony said this morning, "The way they treated the dead bodies of the Indian soldiers is inhuman. We will convey our protest to the Pakistan government." (
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The soldiers who were killed were Lance Naik Hemraj and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh. They died when Pakistani troops ambushed a patrol moving in foggy conditions near Mendhar, 220 km north of Jammu. (
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Arun Jaitley, a senior leader of the main Opposition party the BJP, said that "India should collect all the evidence, and name and shame Pakistan in front of the international community." (
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Last evening, the Pakistani army in a statement dismissed India's version of events as "propaganda to divert the attention of the world from Sunday's raid on a Pakistani post by Indian troops in which a Pakistani soldier was killed."
India denies that allegation. On Monday, the Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Bagley was summoned by Pakistan's Foreign Office in Islamabad.
Army sources said there had been further exchanges on Tuesday night which caused no damage and the border was calm on Wednesday morning.
"The Line of Control is steady and stable," Brigadier G S Sangha, one of the army's most senior officers in Kashmir, told AFP.
(With inputs from agencies)