Sushma Swaraj trashes Sartaj Aziz’s ‘white flag’ claims

NEW DELHI: Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has strongly denied Pakistan’s allegation that two Pakistani soldiers were killed by the Border Security Force after being called to a meeting on the border. Swaraj wrote to Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the Pakistan Prime Minister on foreign affairs, that Islamabad had completely misrepresented the incident and pointed out that a routine BSF patrol had come under sniper fire. “The minister stated that the incidents on December 31 in the Jammu sector commenced when a routine BSF patrol flying an identifying flag came under sniper fire from a Pakistan border post, which resulted in the death of one Indian security personnel and serious injuries to another,” the MEA said. Swaraj emphasized that Pakistani commanders responded to Indian defensive fire by escalating matters by using higher calibre weapons, expanding the zone of conflict to other sub sectors and targeting civilian habitations. The external affairs minister categorically said that at no stage did the Indian side seek any platoon level contact under a white flag as was suggested in the communication sent to her by Aziz. The consistent Indian message conveyed to Pakistan was that if they were to stop firing on Indian border posts, defensive firing from the Indian side would end immediately. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s commanders had chosen to ignore this advice until the evening. Swaraj said India always adhered by mechanisms that have been evolved to ensure peace and tranquility on the International Border and Line of Control and would continue to do so. She urged Pakistan’s foreign affairs and national security adviser to also ensure that Pakistan’s forces do the same.