India calls upon Pakistan to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism

When asked about Pakistan's ISPR statement claiming that the Indian Army is being politicised after the Indian Army Chief said that terror activities in Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir were linked with Pakistan, Jaiswal responded, "The whole world knows, who is promoting terrorism. In India, when we have terror-related attacks, where it is coming from, we all know the genesis, the root of cross-border terrorism. So, in this context, when the whole world knows who is the progenitor of cross-border terrorism, to say that we are trying to politicise something etc is totally immaterial. Everyone knows that there are people, there are countries who are responsible for cross-border terrorism and we call upon Pakistan to take strict action to stop cross-border terrorism."

Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued the statement after Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi termed Pakistan as the epicentre of terrorism and said that 80 per cent of terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir are Pakistanis.

In his annual Army Day press conference on January 13, General Dwivedi blamed Pakistan for the violence levels in the Union Territory saying it was being orchestrated by the epicentre of terrorism that is Pakistan.

"If the support is not forthcoming the way India is looking at it, this kind of terrorist infiltration will continue to be there," he said. The Army Chief said that the parliamentary elections and assembly elections in the Union Territory both had nearly 60 per cent voting.

"It means that the local population is going with the peace. People of Jammu and Kashmir are shunning violence and violence is being orchestrated by our Western adversary Pakistan," the chief said.

Gen Dwivedi, who has handled counter-terrorist operations very closely as Northern Army Commander, said that as of now, "We have inducted 15,000 additional troops in the year 2024 and that is why you will find that the violence level has gone down where we have been able to neutralize 73 terrorists out of which 60% were Pakistan terrorists." (ANI)