India, Pakistan DGMO-level talks today; Sundarbani infiltration matter to be raised

New Delhi, Oct 23: India is set to lodge a strong protest with Pakistan against its infiltrators at the Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO)-level talks scheduled for Tuesday.

This comes in the wake of the recent attack on the Indian Army patrol along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Sunderbani sector. Three Indian Army soldiers were killed and one suffered critical injuries.

"During the hotline talk between the DGMOs, the Indian Army will strongly condemn the barbaric act of Pakistan Army," an official based in South Block, which houses the Ministry of Defence, said.

The top officials from both the sides will hold talks around 11 AM using the existing mechanism of hotline communication.

The sector commanders of the two armies had earlier met in Poonch on October 21 during which India issued a stern warning to Pakistan against sending terrorists to the Indian soil.

Since the DGMO talks on May 29, 2018, which was held at the behest of Pakistan, the Army has been maintaining utmost restraint to uphold the ceasefire along the LoC.

Since May, at least seven infiltration bids by the Pakistan Army have been foiled by the Indian Army, which also resulted in the killing of 23 terrorists.

Earlier this month, Major General Asif Ghafoor, spokesperson of the Pakistan military's Inter-Services Public Relations, had threatened the Indian Army with "10 surgical strikes" in response to one such attack by India.

Ghafoor was quoted as saying to Radio Pakistan, "If India dares to launch a surgical strike in Pakistan, it will face 10 surgical strikes in response."

However, in response, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh claimed the Indian Army is fully prepared. "When required, any challenging task can be undertaken. It doesn't matter what statements are being made from what quarter," Singh said.

Army, last month, celebrated the second anniversary of its surgical strike on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

However, the Army maintained that according to intelligence inputs, there is no change in terrorist infrastructure across the LoC in PoK, hence several attempts of infiltration by Pakistan-trained terrorists.