India increases military activities in held Kashmir

MUMBAI/ISLAMABAD: The Indian Army has increased activities in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK), while the Indian Navy was put on high alert on Thursday in the city of Mumbai, an official said, after reports that four men dressed in black and carrying weapons were seen near a base.

Security has been strengthened at several naval facilities along the coast in and around India´s financial capital, while officials investigate the reports.

“The navy is at a high state of alert in Mumbai and adjoining areas after receiving inputs regarding suspicious activity reported by schoolchildren,” Navy spokesman Captain DK Sharma told AFP.

Sharma did not reveal the nature of the activity, but local media reported that the children had seen gunmen, their faces covered, near a naval facility at Uran, about 50 kilometres from Mumbai.

“We are taking utmost care and precautions,” Mumbai police spokesperson Ashok Dudhe also told AFP.

Mumbai is particularly sensitive to security threats after gunmen, who arrived by sea, went on a three-day rampage in 2008 in the western city that left 166 people dead. India blamed the attacks on Pakistani militants.

India has also been on guard since militants raided an army base on Sunday near the Line of Control (LoC) in the IHK, killing 18 soldiers.

Meanwhile, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan has the ability to thwart any kind of aggression from India and the armed forces are fully capable of protecting the motherland.

He said Pakistan is ready for unconditional talks with India to resolve various issues, including the core issue of Kashmir.

“Pakistan wants to resolve the issues diplomatically and is ready for talks with India but such kind of talks between the two countries should be unconditional,” he said while talking to a private television channel.

He said talks between the two countries could not succeed till the resolution of the Kashmir issue. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif forcefully raised the Kashmir issue and brutalities of Indian occupied forces in the IHK at the 71st session of the UN General Assembly.

Sartaj said the international community accepted that Kashmir was a disputed issue and the prime minister’s address in the UN to highlight the issue would have a good impact from the world on India. He said the prime minister met eight heads of states and three members of the UN Security Council and apprised them of the current situation in the IHK and brutalities of Indian forces on innocent Kashmiris. He said the world leaders expressed sorrow over the use of force in the IHK and escalation of tension between Pakistan and India. He said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had also expressed concern over the human rights violations in IHK. The adviser said international pressure was now mounting on India.

To a question, he said the real change had happened in ground situation where a new generation of Kashmiris has risen spontaneously against India’s illegal occupation demanding freedom from occupation. He said it had badly disturbed the Indian government.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force are also holding exercises to maintain operational preparedness.

Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Khan Hasham Bin Saddique visited coastal area, including Turbat, Makran, Jiwani and Ormara, to witness the operational readiness of Pakistan Navy units exercising in the area.

The PAF also closed a major highway on Thursday to let it practice landing jets on the road, in what it said was routine training not related to the heightened tension with India after a deadly attack in the disputed Kashmir region.

Traffic on busy main highway between Islamabad and Lahore was diverted to an older mountain road during the two-day air force exercise, dubbed ‘High Mark.’ “They landed on the road in this, yes. That is something they have been doing for years,” Pakistan Air Force spokesman Commodore Javed Mohammad Ali said. The drill was needed “in case your runways get damaged or they are not available for you,” he added.

The exercise was not ordered in response to recent tensions with India and the timing was a coincidence, he said. “This exercise, High Mark, is not done overnight just like that,” he said, describing it as “a routine training matter.”

Another security official, however, said the Pakistani military was on high alert in case India decided to retaliate for the Uri attack with cross-border military force. So far, India’s military response to the Uri attack has been limited to skirmishes near the Line of Control.