Indian minister says Pakistan military caused ambush

Change of tone after government accused of soft response to attack that killed five soldiers.

NEW DELHI // India's defence ministry yesterday accused Pakistan's military of direct involvement in an ambush in Kashmir this week that killed five Indian soldiers.

The accusation could worsen already fragile relations between the countries, which have maintained an uneasy ceasefire over the de facto border in the disputed territory.

The Indian government has also come under pressure for what the opposition claims has been a soft response to the incident.

In a marked change of tone the Indian defence minister, AK Antony, yesterday said that Pakistani soldiers had been involved in the attack early on Tuesday.

It was "now clear that specialist troops of the Pakistan Army were involved in this attack", he said.

"We all know that nothing happens from Pakistan side of the Line of Control (LoC) without support, assistance, facilitation and, often, direct involvement of the Pakistan Army."

On Tuesday, Mr Antony had carefully chosen his words, saying only that those responsible for the shooting had been "dressed in Pakistani uniforms".

But he struck a bullish tone yesterday after the dead soldiers received a state funeral.

"Our restraint should not be taken for granted," he said. "Nor should the capacity of our armed forces and resolve of the government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted."

The Pakistan army, which has denied a role in the killings of the Indian soldiers, said yesterday that the Indian army had fired upon and wounded a Pakistani civilian near the border.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has urged the Indian government to halt the peace process between the two countries.

"Our demand to end talks with Pakistan still holds," said Yashwant Sinha, a senior BJP leader and former foreign minister. "We also want a debate on the broader issue of terror and intrusions."

Pakistan's new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, said during his election campaign that he would lobby for better ties with India if elected.

He called an emergency meeting yesterday to discuss the growing tensions with India.

Expressing sadness over the "loss of precious human lives," Mr Sharif said it was "incumbent upon the leadership of both sides not to allow the situation to drift and to take steps to improve the atmosphere."

Aizaz Chaudhry, a Pakistan foreign office spokesman, said that his country was "committed to the ceasefire agreement of 2003 which is an important confidence-building measure and should be respected in letter and spirit".

Mr Chaudhry also called upon India to boost security around the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, after Congress party protesters surrounded the building on Wednesday.

India's foreign minister, Salman Khurshid has been more measured in his statements.

Yesterday, he said that "neighbours have to find a way of talking to each other".

But he added: "We can't proceed as if nothing has happened."

Bharat Verma, the editor of the New Delhi-based Indian Defence Review, yesterday said that, amid the uproar over the deaths of the soldiers, "there is a huge hue and cry to take action against Pakistan".

He pointed out that many Indians were eager for peace with Pakistan.

"That is why it took them [the government] so long to come out and admit that the Pakistan army was behind the attacks, as opposed to what the defence minister was first implying, that they were 20 men in army uniform," he said.

Mr Verma added that a cancellation or a temporary cessation of the peace talks would have little effect.

"Our core issues are different," he said.

India's focus is on getting Pakistan to hand over Dawood Ibrahim, a crime boss with links to terror bombings in Mumbai two decades ago, as well as the planners of the 26/11 attacks in 2008, said Mr Verma.

"For Pakistan, the issues are about Kashmir," he said.