Pakistan says Indian planes violated its airspace

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani Air Force said two Indian aircraft violated Pakistan's airspace on Tuesday, and that it scrambled two fighter jets to "challenge the intruders."

The Indian Air Force said its planes appeared to have committed a "technical violation."

Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed archrivals, and such airspace intrusions have happened on occasion in the past. The two countries have fought three major wars since their partition in 1947, but have taken steps to improve relations in recent years.

The Pakistani statement said Tuesday's incident occurred around 10:40 a.m. along the eastern border with India. In their statement, the Pakistanis said that after they scrambled their jets, the Indian aircraft exited the airspace after having stayed inside it for about two minutes.

The statement from India said its aircraft were "on a routine flying training sortie" when they "seem to have flown close to the border and it appears to be a technical violation."

The Indians said they had explained the situation to Pakistani authorities.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said it had conveyed a "serious concern" to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad "over the airspace violation by two Indian high speed (fighter) aircraft."

The ministry also urged India to "respect all existing agreements" between the two countries.

Yahoo News

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Zee News: Pakistan on Tuesday said it had scrambled warplanes after two Indian jets allegedly entered three nautical miles into the country's airspace over Punjab province.

Officials said the incident occurred over Pakpattan district, 200 km from Lahore, the capital of Punjab. They alleged the jets remained in Pakistani airspace for about two minutes.

Pakistan expressed "serious concern" over the alleged violation of its airspace, saying it considered the incident a contravention of a 1991 agreement on preventing such violations.

"The Foreign Ministry has conveyed serious concern to the Indian High Commission over the airspace violation by two Indian high speed (fighter) aircraft that had intruded four kilometres into the Head Sulemanki area at 1040 hours this morning," a Foreign Office statement said.

Pakistan considers the alleged airspace violation a "contravention of the 1991 agreement between Pakistan and India on prevention of airspace violations and for permitting overflights and landings by military aircraft", it said.

While voicing its concerns to the Indian government, the Foreign Office statement called on Delhi "to respect all existing agreements and CBMs that have been reached between the two countries".

"Pakistan Air Force initiated prompt tactical actions and scrambled two fighter aircraft to challenge the intruders. Upon PAF actions, Indian aircraft exited the Pakistani airspace," a PAF spokesperson said.

In Delhi, an IAF official clarified that the fighter jets, on a routine flying training sortie, seem to have flown close to the border.

Media reports regarding "Indian fighter planes entering Pakistani territory is clarified that IAF aircraft which were on a routine flying training sortie seem to have flown close to the border and it appears to be a technical violation, the same has also been conveyed to the Pakistani authorities," IAF spokesperson Sq Ldr Priya Joshi said.

The Western Air Command is expected to order a Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the technical air space violation incident involving the two MiG 21s from the Bathinda air base, sources said.

The technical violation by the IAF pilots happened because of the delay in turning back by them during a routine training sortie, they said.

The air base falls under the Area of Responsibility (AOR) of IAF's sword arm Western Air Command.

According to the Indo-Pak Agreement on Prevention of Airspace Violations, combat aircraft should not fly within 10-km of each other's airspace.

PTI

North Korea Vows More Nuclear Tests Targeting U.S.

BEIJING Jan. 24, 2013- In a bellicose statement singling out the United States as the "sworn enemy" of the Korean people, North Korea today announced plans for a third nuclear test and continued rocket launches.

The move is seen as a disappointment to those who hoped the country's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, might take a less aggressive path than his predecessor and father, Kim Jong-il.

It is also seen as a direct challenge to President Obama and South Korea's newly elected president, Park Geun-hye, who takes office next month.

The statement from North Korea's National Defense Commission read:

"Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival."

The renewed threats come in response to the U.S. backed resolution tightening sanctions against North Korea after its December rocket launch.

At that time, North Korea repeatedly insisted that the launch was simply part of its peaceful space program. The recent statement made no mention of that.

It read: "We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States."

South Korean officials analyzed debris from the December launch that, they say, indicates North Korea built and tested crucial components for a missile that can fly further than 6,200 miles.

Analysts say that preparations at the Pungyee test site in northeastern North Korea are underway and that a new underground test could take place on short notice.

Within the international monitoring community it is not believed that North Korea currently has the capability to launch a long-range rocket with the capacity to reach the United States or the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile. But the U.S. is not pleased with North Korea's plans. Glyn Davies, the top U.S. envoy to the region, said in Seoul, "We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it."

China, North Korea's main ally in the region, is also urging restraint. China backed the U.S. resolution at the United Nations and today the Foreign Ministry cautioned North Korea not to take further steps to increase tension.


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ABC News

Russia launches largest naval drills in post-Soviet history

Jan 24, 2013- The largest in post-Soviet history exercises of the Russian Navy started in the Black and Mediterranean seas. They involve warships of the Black Sea, the Baltic and Northern Fleets as well as other types of armed forces - the Army and the Air Force, including long-range aviation.

The "Moskva" is a Slava class guided missile cruiser.

The highest status of the exercises is confirmed by the fact that, for the first time, the overall management responsibility was given to the Chief of General Staff, Colonel-General Valery Gerasimov. The General Staff became a real body of operational control over troops and fleets for the first time. This was confirmed by the recent presidential amendments to the law "On Defense", which is now being prepared for discussion in the State Duma in the second reading.

Maritime policy has such a phenomenon as demonstration of the flag. That is, a country that claims to be a maritime power has to send its ships to different parts of the oceans to remind of itself. It turns out that during the current exercises in a relatively limited area of ​​the ocean three Russian fleets displayed their flags at once. Even the U.S. has not yet gathered, for example, pennants of several of its different fleets or even different operational and tactical organizations in the Mediterranean Sea.

The largest in the last decade Marine combat training involves warships from the Black Sea, the Baltic and Northern Fleets: guided-missile cruiser "Moskva", a large anti-submarine ship "Severomorsk," escorts "Smetliviy", "Yaroslav the Wise", large amphibious ships "Saratov," "Azov", "Kaliningrad", and "Alexander Shabalin," special ships and support vessels, long-range aviation and the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Command.

The operational headquarters are located in the guided-missile cruiser "Moskva" of the Black Sea Fleet, positioned in a designated area of ​​the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the press service of the Defense Ministry, the main task of the exercise is to assess the readiness of the military administration and inter-fleet group of forces to carry out tasks in the far sea zone. During the exercises that will last until January 29, 2013, Russian sailors in the Black and Mediterranean Seas will complete over 60 different military exercises, including missile and artillery fire.

Meanwhile, a number of Russian and foreign media noted that the large-scale naval exercises that the Russian Navy has not conducted for a long time, have a number of features associated with the situation at the borders of Russia and its allies, as well as the situation in the Middle East and North Africa.

Media reported that the ships participating in the exercise would mainly be located off the coast of Syria and allegedly would provide military support to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, including an amphibious landing in the area. This, of course, is hard to believe. Russia would not conduct these large-scale exercises to get involved in a conflict. Although, in Syria Russia has very real strategic, rather than tactical, interests.

In Tartus, the second largest city of Syria, houses the only functioning Russian base outside of the former Soviet Union.

Judging by the statements of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the training landing in Tartus for a naval assault, or any other combat-actions associated with this base, are impossible by definition. Moscow intends to participate in the solution of the Syrian issue peacefully.

The military base was established in 1971. It was created to support the actions of the fleet in the Mediterranean Sea - ship repair, food and fuel supplies. The logistics base consists of floating docks, floating storages, warehouses, barracks and various household facilities. The object is kept by several hundred Russian sailors. The base rental brings Syria a great deal of money.

Russian naval exercises bring tangible benefits to some Western European ports as well. For example, newspaper El Faro reported that a visit of the Northern Fleet of Russia with a large anti-submarine ship "Severomorsk", rescue tug "Altai" and tanker "Dubna" into the Spanish port of Ceuta had a positive impact on the economy of the city. The newspaper wrote that Russian sailors spent about 200,000 euros in the city in three days.

The main purchase of the squadron of the Russian Navy in Ceuta was 750 tons of fuel from a local company, El Faro reported. In addition, the Russian ships were sold 204 tons of drinking and fresh water. The rest of the money was spent on personal shopping by the sailors.

While the exercises of three Russian fleets in the Black and Mediterranean Seas is a demonstration of flags, so to speak, on a regional scale, the information on the construction of a new nuclear fleet is a demonstration of force at a global scale.

In Severodvinsk at the "Sevmash" factory nuclear submarine "Vladimir Monomakh" was launched, the third submarine of project 955 "Borey".

According to a press release issued by the factory, the launch from the floating dock marked the beginning of the cruiser tests. Soon "Sevmash" experts will test seaworthiness and performance of the nuclear submarine. Test runs of "Vladimir Monomakh" at sea are scheduled for the summer.

The first nuclear-powered Project 955 - "Yury Dolgorukiy" - was put into service by the Russian Navy on January 10, 2013. Simultaneously, the fleet put into service the primary weapon of submarines of this project - intercontinental ballistic sea-based missile P-30 "Bulava". In total, by 2020 the Navy plans to get eight submarines under the "Borey" project. They will replace obsolete submarine of 667BDRM project "Dolphin".

The second submarine of project 955 "Borey" - "Alexander Nevsky" - is to be put into service by the end of 2013. Construction of another submarine of the project - "Prince Vladimir" - was commenced in Severodvinsk in July of 2012. In early January of 2013 information was released that the fifth "Borey" will be called in honor of Alexander Suvorov, and the sixth - in honor of Mikhail Kutuzov. Such large-scale construction of nuclear submarines in Russia is also observed for the first time in decades.


Andrei Mikhailov/ Pravda.Ru

Taiwan's Navy conducts anti-submarine drill

Jan 23, 2013- Kaohsiung, Jan. 22 (CNA) The latest minehunters added to the Taiwan's arsenal were shown in public for the first time as the country's Navy held an anti-submarine drill Tuesday to highlight its combat readiness.

The s-2 tracker, anti submarine

The exercise, which was open to the media, simulated an emergency in which the Navy dispatched a frigate from Tsoying naval base in Kaohsiung to counter a potential submarine attack by enemy forces.

The Dyihuah frigate -- one of six Lafayette-class ships purchased from France in the 1990s -- sailed into the Taiwan Strait accompanied by two retrofitted U.S.-made coastal minehunters deployed to keep the sea free of mines and two Chengkung-class frigates.

Taiwan received the minehunters last August and were exposing them to public scrutiny for the first time Tuesday.

An S-2T anti-submarine aircraft was then dispatched to locate the opposing submarine, followed by an anti-submarine S-70C helicopter sent out to deploy dipping sonar systems to confirm the location of the submarine.

The submarine was finally pushed to the surface after the S-70C launched a simulated attack by firing a torpedo, concluding the drill.

Naval officials said the exercise was held to highlight the military's efforts to stay alert and strengthen combat readiness ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year break in February.

Focus Taiwan

China Says 'There Will Be No Japanese Second Shot'

Jan 22, 2013- Japan Threatens To Fire On Chinese Fighters — China Says 'There Will Be No Second Shot'

Type 052B Guangzhou class Wuhan (169) guided missile destroyer

When Chinese and Japanese fighters met for the first time over disputed islands in the East China Sea earlier this month, Japan promptly declared its right to fire tracers at China's jets.

Though met with outrage by China at the time, Japan continues promoting the live firing which Chinese military academics are calling the "first shot."

The Tokyo AP reports Japan believes it's simply following protocol:

“Every country has procedures for how to deal with a violation of its territory that continues after multiple cautionary measures,” Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Wednesday when asked if tracer shots would be fired against intruding aircraft that refuse to change course. “We have response measures ready that are consistent with global standards.”

If Japan is using the talk of tracer fire to gauge Chinese reaction, the tactic worked.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Sunday his country is on "high alert" and that Japan and the U.S. are ignoring the fact that "the islands are China’s inherent territory."

052 Gun that appears similar to the US
Navy's Phalanx weapon (click to expand)

Never to be left out, Chinese military academics quoted in Beijing's state-run media provided far more fiery replies:

“Japan’s desire to fire tracer warning shots as a way of frightening the Chinese is nothing but a joke that shows the stupidity, cruelty and failure to understand their own limitations,” Maj. Gen. Peng Guangqian of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences was quoted saying by the China News Service and other state media.

“Firing tracer bullets is a type of provocation; it’s firing the first shot,” he said. “Were Japan to dare to fire tracers, which is to say fire the first shot, then China wouldn’t stint on responding and not allow them to fire the second shot.”

China then released photos of its East Fleet 052 destroyer during live fire exercises in the disputed area. The maneuvers involved both its East and South Fleets, simulating actual combat scenarios. Including multiple jet fighters and surface vessels, The South China Morning Post reports it as the first time naval air forces employed air-to-air missiles so far out to sea.

The second massive drill involving the South Fleet January 8, included Hong-6 bombers flying eight hour runs while evading radar and electromagnetic interference as they'd encounter in combat. One Beijing based naval expert said the drills would only increase in frequency and scope, and include other factions of the People's Army.

An impossibly immense muzzle flash off a 5-inch (or so) gun on the 052 Qingdao

That appears to be accurate as China's also announced its army aviation unit of attack helicopters will shift from a logistics mission in preparation for combat.
The Times of India quotes the PLA Daily, China's official military newspaper:

The unit will work on major missions such as long-distance tasks, large scale offshore operations, attack coordination with other units and large scale airborne operations, it said, adding that the unit will also aim to improve its operation capability based on IT technologies.

The English PLA Daily army section has several announcements related to its helicopter units, their accelerated training, and even troops psychological readiness for "military transportation in high-tech wars".

Finally, because war preparation takes many forms, China's Communist Party news site the Global Times reports Beijing's new subway lines are fully online and able to withstand chemical, biological, and nuclear attacks. The tunnels have gates that form a seal between below ground and the street.

Z-10 CGI with weapons array

From the Global Times:

Jiang Hao, an engineer from the 4th Engineer Design & Research Institute of General Staff Department, said that the gates for civil defense have already been used in the subway in cities like Nanjing in Jiangsu Province and Shenyang in Liaoning Province.

"The new facilities also have other defensive capabilities like emergency communication equipment at each station, which makes effective communication possible during a conflict," Jiang said at the conference.

Of course, this may all be a matter of course as China exercises its financial ability and modernizes its military and infrastructure.

But there is little chance the disagreement over the disputed islands will quiet down any time soon with such intransigent claims of ownership coming from both countries. The feud also arrives as Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is eager to demonstrate a more assertive Japanese presence in the area.

With entirely new regional dynamics at work, it's difficult to say how much of this back-and-forth is posturing, and how much is some kind of mad inexorable WWI-like slide toward the unthinkable.

Business Insider

Japan defends right to fire warning shots as territory dispute with China heats up

Jan 20, 2013- TOKYO – Japan says it may fire warning shots and take other measures to keep foreign aircraft from violating its airspace in the latest verbal blast between Tokyo and Beijing that raises concerns that a dispute over hotly contested islands could spin out of control.

Japan rights to warning shot on Chinese planes

Japanese officials made the comments after Chinese fighters tailed its warplanes near the islands recently. The incident is believed to be the first scrambling of Chinese fighters since the tensions began to rise last spring.

According to Chinese media, a pair of J-10 fighters was scrambled after Japanese F-15s began tailing a Chinese surveillance plane near the disputed islands in the East China Sea. China has complained the surveillance flight did not violate Japanese airspace and the F-15s were harassing it.

Foxnews

Chinese army to train armed helicopters for combat missions

Jan 20, 2013- Chinese army will put armed helicopters in training programs for combat operations, according to Sunday's PLA Daily, the flagship newspaper of China's armed forces.

WZ-10

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) planned to change the training strategy of its army aviation unit as more and more armed helicopters joined the service, said the newspaper story, quoting a meeting of army aviation unit.

The focus of army aviation unit will be shifted from logistics missions to combat ones, from building the capacity for non-war military actions to core military actions, the newspaper report said.

The unit will work on major missions such as long-distance tasks, large scale offshore operations, attack coordination with other units and large scale airborne operations, the report said.

The unit also aims to improve its operation capability based on IT technologies, it said.

china.org.cn

PLA Navy in live-fire attack drills in East China and South China seas

Jan 18, 2013- Live fire by missile-carrying aircraft in East China and South China seas bare the sabre to neighbours and mark a shift in strategy

The Chinese marine surveillance ship Haijian No. 51 cruising as the Japan Coast Guard ship Ishigaki sails near the disputed islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea. Photo: Reuters

The People's Liberation Army's naval air force has carried out attack drills in both the East and South China seas in a show of force directed at countries involved in territorial disputes with China, according to naval experts.

Photos posted on the website of the PLA Navy on Wednesday showed several J-10 fighter jets that had been sent by the East China Sea Fleet to the waters of the East China Sea close to the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, which are claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo.

The website said the drill took place "recently", without saying when. The photo captions said that air-to-air missiles were carried thousands of kilometres by the military aircraft and then launched in a live-fire drill, to more accurately simulate a real combat scenario. The drill marked the first time that the naval air force fired air-to-air missiles far out at sea.

Another drill was conducted by the South China Sea Fleet on January 8 and featured day and night air raids by Hong-6 bombers, which had to evade enemy radar and electromagnetic interference en route to an attack on a harbour more than 1,000 kilometres away from the naval base in Zhanjiang , Guangdong, according to the navy's website. Pilots who took part in that drill had to fly more than eight hours from Zhanjiang for the staged attack, which took place in an open sea area.

The naval drills came amid escalating tensions between China and Japan over the territorial row that has seen ties between the nations deteriorate since the Japanese government purchased the disputed chain from a private owner in September.

A flight delegation of China's naval air force conducts a long-range raid exercise, and they shoot down the simulated "enemy aircraft" during the exercise. The exercise marked a new breakthrough in their precision raid and actual combat capability. People.com.cn

Last week, Beijing confirmed that it had scrambled two J-10 fighter jets to monitor Japanese aircraft near the Diaoyus, while Tokyo said it was considering stationing F-15 fighter jets on Shimoji-jima Island in Okinawa prefecture to deal with Chinese aircraft.

Ni Lexiong , director of the sea power and defence policy research institute at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said the drills indicated that the PLA Navy had changed its strategy from inshore defence to open-sea counterattacks far offshore.

"The drills in the East and South China seas were obviously also intended to warn Japan and [other Southeast Asian] countries that the army is well prepared for any possible battles if our sovereignty is threatened," Ni said.

The Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie said the PLA naval fleet's improved combat abilities should also aid in China's increasing role in international anti-piracy and escort missions

"We have never hidden our desire to sail into deep waters, and this also enhances our navy's combat abilities in dealing with a crisis or attack," Li said.

Li said that more naval drills on the high seas, as well as other military exercises held in tough situations, would be carried out by the PLA in the future.

SCMP

Japan drill to test response to theoretical attack

Jan. 14, 2013- For the first time, the First Airborne Brigade of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has conducted a drill, simulating the retaking of an outlying Japanese islands under attack.

For the first time, the First Airborne Brigade of Japan’s Ground
Self-Defense Force has conducted a drill, simulating the retaking
of an outlying Japanese islands under attack.

The drill was held at a training ground in Chiba prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Japan’s Defence Minister has called on the military to improve security to defend Japan. Around 20 aircraft and 33 vehicles took part in the drill.

The Japanese government plans to request an increase of 1.1 billion US dollars in military spending, the first such increase in a decade.

A move by the Japanese government to buy China’s Diaoyu Islands from private Japanese owners in September sparked protests in China that led to the damage of Japanese-owned factories around the country.

China Warns Citizens To 'Prepare For The Worst'

Jan 11, 2013- After repeatedly flying surveillance aircraft into disputed airspace with Japan, and Tokyo scrambling F-15s in response, China's now sending fighters of its own on "routine flights" into the East China Sea.

The J-10

China Daily:

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday that Chinese military planes were on"routine flights" in relevant airspace over the East China Sea. Spokesman Hong Lei made the remarks at a press briefing in response to media reports that Japan sent fighter jets to head off a number of Chinese military planes spotted in Japan's "air defense identification zone" over the East China Sea on Thursday.

"China firmly opposes Japan's moves to gratuitously escalate the situation and create tensions," Hong said.

The area north of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyus in China, is reportedly home to billions in oil and gas deposits claimed both by Japan and China.

Responding to China's fighter deployment, Japan is considering permitting its F-15 pilots to fire tracer bullets, as warning shots, against Chinese planes. China's state-run Global Times calls this, "a step closer to war," warning a military clash is "more likely" while its people need to prepare "for the worst."

The Chinese jets could be flying from air base Shuimen, built east of the islands in Fujian Province. Satellite imagery of the base first came to light in 2009, but experts believe it reached completion late last year.

The Taipei Times reported in May 2012 that satellite images showed J-10 combat aircraft, Su-30 fighters, and various unmanned drones arriving at the base.

In addition to aircraft experts believe Russian made S-300 long-range surface-to-air missiles ring the airbase, providing some of the best missile protection in the world. The S-300 is comparable to the U.S. made Patriot missile recently sent to Turkey for its first line of missile defense against Syria.

The Shuimen airbase compliment's China's East Fleet that maintains 35 ships in the region, including its newest warship the Type 054, seven submarines, and eight additional landing craft.

Among the subs are four Kilo-class diesel-electric Russian made submarines capable of the most advanced underwater warfare.

All of this located just 236 miles from the contested islands, which have been in dispute between Japan and China for some time. Han-Yi Shaw writes an interesting history of the dispute under Nick Kristof's On the Ground, for those interested in more background.

While the U.S. takes no official position on who owns the Islands, it would be expected to honor its U.S.-Japan security treaty signed in 1960.

Though it's a formal agreement to aid Japan if it comes under attack, there are few who believe the U.S. would risk a full-blown war with China over a few uninhabited islands, regardless of how much oil and gas lay beneath them.

That may, or may not be, a reassuring thought as it doesn't look like the situation will de-escalate any time soon — and China has immense assets almost within the area itself — looking very well-equipped to enter an actual fight.

Business Insider

Japan Scrambles Jets To Head Off Chinese Military Planes ... Again

Jan 10, 2013- Japan scrambled fighter jets Thursday to head off a number of Chinese military planes near islands at the centre of a territorial dispute, Japanese media said.

The Chinese planes were spotted on Japanese military radar north of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, known as the Diaoyus in China, the Fuji TV network reported, quoting Japanese government officials.

They did not violate territorial airspace over the islands but flew inside Japan's so-called air defence identification zone, the report said.

The Japanese defence ministry press office did not confirm the report.

The Chinese planes were gone when F-15 jet fighters from an airbase on Japan's main Okinawan island reached the area, the report said, adding the Chinese flights continued until about 5:00 pm (0800 GMT).

Chinese government ships and planes have been seen off the disputed islands numerous times since Japan nationalised them in September, sometimes within the 12 nautical-mile territorial zone.

The coastguard said Thursday evening they were not aware of any Chinese military aircraft in the area.

On Wednesday the conservative Sankei Shimbun reported that the number of Chinese military planes nearing Japanese territory had increased since Japan nationalised the islands.

The paper said Japan's air force had scrambled fighter jets to intercept Chinese military aircraft numerous times over the past few months. Defence officials said they could not confirm the report.

F-15s were sent airborne to head off Chinese state-owned -- but not military -- planes four times in December, including an occasion when Japanese airspace was breached, the defence ministry has said.

They were also mobilised once last week, it said.

Japan is Friday expected to approve a huge stimulus package aimed at breathing life into its flagging economy.

Around 180 billion yen ($2.1 billion) of the total 20 trillion yen set to be announced is expected to be allocated to military spending.

A defence ministry spokesman told AFP the cash would be used to buy missiles, helicopters and to refurbish fighter jets to cope with the changing security environment in the region.

Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.

Tensions grow between India and Pakistan

Jan 10, 2013- Tensions mount between India and Pakistan, following two deadly incidents over the Line of Control dividing the region of Kashmir. People in India have staged a protest, while the government summoned a Pakistani diplomat.

An Indian Border Security Force soldier patrols on a vehicle at the India-Pakistan
international border at Suchetgarh, some 32 kilometers (20 miles) from Jammu, on January 9, 2013.

The Indian government summoned Pakistan’s top diplomat in New Delhi on Wednesday, to formally complain about an attack on an Indian army patrol that killed two soldiers in the disputed region of Kashmir.

Activists from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party shout slogans during a protest march to the Pakistani embassy, decrying the killing of two Indian soldiers, in New Delhi on January 9, 2012.

Indian foreign minister Salman Khurshid said, "Our intent is being conveyed very clearly, our anxiety has been conveyed very clearly. Now, we would expect an appropriate response from that side. I can once again repeat that this is completely unacceptable. At the same time, I think it is very important that we make sure that whatever has happened may not, should not be escalated. We cannot and must not allow for an escalation of a very unwholesome event that has taken place and I hope that message has gone home."

On the same day, members of the Indian opposition Bharatiya Janata Party staged a protest in New Delhi to condemn the alleged attack.

BJP member said, "This struggle has to move forward and we should give a proper reply. Pakistan has to realize that if they attack India, they will have to pay for it."

As the discontent grows across India, Pakistan says it is ready to investigate India’s claim.

In a statement, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Pakistan strongly rejected the Indian allegation of an attack across the LoC on its military patrol. But it also said Pakistan welcomed a UN investigation.

Senior Pakistan and Indian military officials also spoke on the phone to discuss the incident.

The alleged attack on Indian soldiers follows the accusation from Pakistan of India transgressing the LoC in Kashmir and killing one Pakistani soldier.

New Delhi and Islamabad in 2003 agreed on a ceasefire along the International Border and Line of Control in Kashmir.

Violations have been reported on both sides, but the ceasefire remains in effect.

Indian army personnel carry the coffin of soldier Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh at Rajouri, some 148 kms from Jammu, on January 9, 2013.

CNTV