Ceasefire violations by Pakistan more than doubled but terrorist attacks have considerably come down in two years

India-Pakistan Border

New Delhi: In all 5133 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan were reported in 2020, which was more than double of the incidents registered in 2018, the Lok Sabha was informed today. In 2018, there were 2140 instances of ceasefire violations by Pakistan which rose to 3479 in 2019.

However, the number of Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks came down almost three times in 2020 as compared to the number of such attacks in 2018. In 2018, there were 644 incidents of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks, which came down to 594 in 2019 and was further down to 244 in 2020. (See table)

In a written reply to question in the Lok Sabha the Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy, said the ceasefire violations by Pakistan are reported from the International Border/Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir only. “The Government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism,” he reiterated, and said immediate and effective retaliation was undertaken by the security forces in cases of ceasefire violations and cross border firings. “There has been a substantial decline in the terrorist attacks over the last three years, due to a slew of pre-emptive measures undertaken by the Government,” he explained.

The Lok Sabha was informed that the last DG level meeting of BSF and Pakistan Rangers was held from November 8-10, 2017 at New Delhi. During this meeting, the issue of cross border firing was discussed, in which it was agreed upon by both sides to ensure that no such firing takes place. In case of any firing, the other side must exercise maximum restrain and immediate contact through all available means of communication be established to avoid further escalation. Flag meetings are also held on ground, on need basis, between Commanders of different level.

“No assessment is made to ascertain the losses to the exchequer due to such attacks. However, compensation is provided to the civilians, security force personnel, etc. for the losses due to such attacks,” the Minister stated.

It was also mentioned that Jammu and Kashmir had been affected by terrorism sponsored and supported from across the border for the last three decades and government had been consistently raising the issue of cross border terrorism and had been placed high emphasis on international cooperation in combating the menace of terrorism including in bilateral, regional and international fora.

Some of the steps taken by the Government to curb terrorist activities were as under:

1. Kinetic operations: actively identifying the terrorists and their tactical supporters, seeking them through operations like cordon and search giving proper response if they resort to violence while being arrested etc.
2. Preventive operations: actively identifying the strategic supporters of terrorism and initiating investigations to remove the camouflaging layers and exposing their mechanisms of aiding and abetting terrorism such as funding, recruiting etc.
3. Night patrolling has been intensified and Nakas have been set up on all likely infiltration routes. The vehicles coming from borders areas are being thoroughly checked.
4. Coordination meetings are being regularly conducted and high-alertness is being maintained by all the forces deployed in the area.
5. Sharing of Intelligence inputs on real time basis among all Security forces operating in J&K.

Reddy stated that further to expose Pakistan’s connection with various terrorist outfits in the international arena, Government of India was also using the various evidence collected during investigations of terror attacks for inclusion in bilateral and multilateral discussions.

– global bihari bureau