New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said the Indian Armed Forces on Sunday sent a “hotline message” to his Pakistani counterpart, highlighting “violation” of the understanding reached between the two militaries a day ago and India’s “firm and clear” intent to respond to these “fiercely and punitively” if repeated later.
Hours after India and Pakistan reached the understanding on stopping military actions on May 10, New Delhi on Saturday accused Islamabad of breaching it.
In a late night media briefing on Saturday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with “seriousness and responsibility”.
The DGMO during the media briefing here said, “Through last night and in the early hours of the morning today, these violations were responded to robustly and dealt with as they must be.”
Lt Gen Ghai said the Indian Armed Forces have thus far exercised “immense restraint” and “our actions have been focussed, measured and non-escalatory”.
“However, any threat to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and safety of our citizens, will be met with decisive force,” he said.
“We earlier today sent another hotline message to my counterpart, highlighting these violations of the understanding between the DGMOs on the 10th of May, and our firm and clear intent to respond to these fiercely and punitively, if repeated tonight, subsequently or later,” the DGMO said.
He also mentioned that earlier in the day, Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi conducted a security review, and has granted “full authority to our Army commanders for counter-actions in the kinetic domain, in case of of any violation by Pakistan”.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea with immediate effect after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes that brought the two countries teetering on the edge of full-scale war.
Directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan agreed on the understanding during a call on May 10 afternoon.
The foreign secretary on Saturday evening said instructions were given on both sides to implement the understanding and that the DGMOs of the two sides will talk again on May 12 at 1200 hours.
The DGMO during the media briefing on Sunday recalled his talk with his counterpart a day ago.
“On the 10th of May… even as we were getting into a huddle to war-game, the events of the previous night, a routine exercise, I received a message on hotline from my counterpart in Pakistan, seeking my willingness to communicate. Since our initial aim was to strike at terror camps, and all our actions in subsequent days were in response to the intrusions and violations by the Pakistan Air Force and its Army, it was decided that I would indeed speak with my counterpart,” he said.
“You are already aware… my communication with the Pakistan DGMO was conducted at 1535 hrs yesterday and resulted in cessation of cross-border firing and air intrusions by either side, with effect from 1700 hrs May 10, after he proposed that we ceased hostilities,” Lt Gen Ghai said.
He then mentioned about the violation of the understanding within hours of it coming into effect.
“We also decided to further speak on the 12th of May, tomorrow, at 1200 hours to discuss the modalities that will enable the longevity of this understanding. However disappointingly, and must I add, expectedly, it took only a couple of hours for the Pakistan Army to violate these arrangements cross-border and across the Line of Control firing, followed by drone intrusions across the expanse of the western front,” he said.
Later, in response to a question on whether Indian Armed Forces are anticipating what the Pakistan armed forces’s strategy now would be, Lt Gen Ghai said, “We are concerned about what we would do. We have a roadmap and a plan and we will follow it diligently, and we will follow it to a T.”
During the question and answer session, he also said it is amply clear that Pakistan Army has “not crossed” the international boundary, neither in the plain sector nor the Line of Control. So, the “intrusion have been in air”.
“There have been certain attempts along the Line of Control, when ceasefire violations have been on, to try and infiltrate and carry out and perpetrate activities that we are well familiar with. Whether these are by terrorists or by the Pakistan Army or its special forces and commandos, is difficult to say, but each of these have been effectively thwarted,” the DGMO said, without mentioning any specific timeline.
