Army Chief says Indian soldiers will retaliate if Pakistan violates ceasefire at LoC

New Delhi: Sending out a strong message to Pakistan, Army Chief Bikram Singh said that Indian soldiers won't remain quiet if the neighbouring country violated the ceasefire. However, Bikram Singh said that he didn't want to comment on Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Ashraf's Ajmer visit.

"Our soldiers are not sitting idle. We won't remain quiet if they violate the ceasefire. This keeps on happening at the ground. The battalion commanders are the best people to reply," Singh replied when asked about the situation at the Line of Control.

However, he said the Indian Army had already conveyed its concern to the Centre on the issue of ceasefire violations, beheading of an Indian soldier and brutal killing of another soldier by Pakistani troops in January. "At that time, we showed our concern.. We have shown our emotions (to the Centre)," the Army Chief, who was here to attend the War Decorated India Triennial National Convention cum Reunion, said.

Meanwhile, Ashraf amid tight security arrived in Jaipur on Saturday, even as chief of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti Dargah Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan said 'he will not assist Ashraf's prayers to protest the beheading of India soldiers. The Dargah chief told CNN-IBN that the boycott has been announced to protest against the beheading of Indian soldiers at the Line of Control.

Army Chief's comments come a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that there cannot be normalisation of ties with Pakistan unless the terror machine still active there was brought under control. However, Manmohan Singh said India has made sincere efforts to normalise its relations with Pakistan and had achieved some progress.

Ashraf's visit comes at a time when there is a chill in bilateral ties over the ceasefire violations at the Line of Control in Kashmir. An Indian soldier was beheaded by Pakistani troops while the mutilated body of another was found in January.

With Additional Inputs From PTI

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