New Delhi (Sputnik): The Indian Army on Monday warned Pakistan to keep away from the Line of Control (LoC), the border dividing the two neighbouring countries.
Speaking to media, the Indian Army's Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, said: "They [Pakistani forces] dare not try and come anywhere across the Line of Control to carry out any kind of actions. Our deterrence and the articulation of our military strategy has been absolutely clear. Should there be any misadventure by the Pakistan armed forces, they shall always be given a befitting reply."
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"I wish to assure you, the Indian armed forces have the capability, the resolve and operational plans absolutely geared up to take on any challenge from Pakistan whenever it arises," the army officer told reporters.
"But I must assure you that our efforts to thwart each of these actions by them are in place and Pakistan is not able to succeed in their designs," he added.
Pakistan has time and again denied the allegations by India of waging a proxy war, terming them baseless.
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Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh further asserted that the check on militancy in Jammu and Kashmir was vindicated by the fact that the Indian Parliamentary elections in the region, were held in a largely peaceful manner with no serious mishappening.
"There wasn't any major violence during this period. While we have been able to ensure peaceful elections, we have continued with our effort towards neutralisation of terrorists based on very hard specific intelligence that led to surgical operations (against militants)."
Pakistan's military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor accused India of relying on false claims about the Indian Air Force's air strike on alleged terror camps in Balakot region of Pakistan, which happened subsequent to the terror attack on Indian security forces in Pulwama region of Jammu and Kashmir by a Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist that left 40 security personnel killed.
The Pakistani military spokesperson urged India to be a more responsible nuclear power. "In your rhetoric, you keep using nuclear power as a threat," Ghafoor said. "Nuclear powers are not a threat, they are a weapon of deterrence that should not be mentioned lightly…Do not test our resolve."