Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh yesterday said his cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s hug to Pakistan army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa in Islamabad was “not a nice gesture and was completely avoidable”.
Sidhu should have avoided indulging in such a gesture when Indian soldiers are getting killed every day on the borders, the chief minister said in Chandigarh.
“After all, it is the army chief who gives orders to kill, with soldiers merely following the order,” the chief minister said.
“Bajwa is responsible for the deaths of our soldiers and Sidhu should not have shown such niceties towards him,” Singh said.
As for Sidhu sitting next to Pakistan-administered Kashmir President Masood Khan at the swearing-in of Imran Khan as prime minister of Pakistan, Singh that the former cricketer “possibly did not know who he was and in any case the seating arrangement was not in his hands”.
The chief minister, however, dismissed opposition parties’ demand for Sidhu’s resignation.
Singh said Sidhu attended the swearing-in ceremony in his personal capacity due to his close relations with Khan from their cricketing days.
Meanwhile, a militant was killed in a gunfight with the army after an infiltration bid by a group of gunmen was foiled in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday - a day after Khan took over as Pakistan prime minister and three days after its army promised to stop cross-border incursion along the Line of Control (LoC).
According to a Defence Ministry spokesman, the border gunfight in north Kashmir’s Uri sector erupted after three to four militants were spotted infiltrating across the de facto border in Baramulla.
“The militant was killed in Kasturi Naar area in Uri sector,” said Colonel Rajesh Kalia. The operation continued hours after the militant’s killing.
The gunfight came a day after three militants were killed on the LoC in after a group of infiltrating militants was challenged by the army in Tanghdar Sector in Kupwara district, also in north Kashmir.
Significantly, on Thursday, senior commanders of the India and Pakistan armies spoke after the two countries celebrated their independence days.
The Director General Military Operations (DGMO)-level talks were held at the behest of Pakistan’s Major General Sahir Shamshad Mirza.
The Pakistani commander promised his army “would take prompt action against (any) move of inimical elements in proximity to the LoC and respond to information shared by the Indian side, thereby facilitating conduct of anti-terrorist operations”, an Indian army statement said on August 16.
The assurance came after the Indian DGMO Lt Gen Anil Chauhan “emphatically stated that infiltration attempts by terrorists were a major cause of concern and informed the Pakistan (counterpart) that these activities have increased in the areas north of Pir Panjal mountain ranges.”
“Pakistan must institute measures to prevent infiltration from the launch pads located on its side of the LoC,” the army statement said.
But yesterday, an army source said in Delhi that nothing had changed even as the Indian side would continue to strive for peace on the borders with Pakistan.
“The issue of infiltration attempts was highlighted (in the DGMO level talks). Tanghdar yesterday and Uri today. In talks, we are emphasising infiltration. The issue was and remains... We are foiling infiltration bid every day. Nothing has changed,” the source said.
The Pakistan commander was said to have expressed satisfaction on the measures being taken along the LoC by troops to maintain border peace and tranquility.