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Soldiers’ killings hindrance to peace moves: Soni

By IANS,

New Delhi: The brutal killing and beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops is a hindrance to the confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, Congress leader Ambika Soni said here Saturday.

“There have been a series of confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, trade has increased, the visa facility has been facilitated… lot of CBMs have been taken by India, and to a certain extent, it has been reciprocated by Pakistan,” Soni told reporters here.

“But one such incident undoes such CBMs,” said Soni, recalling the brutal mutilation of the body of Indian Army officer Saurabh Kalia by Pakistani troops during the Kargil war in 1999.

“We cannot allow such happenings to take place, and not get agitated and angry ourselves,” she said.

Border tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated sharply since the Jan 6 killing of a Pakistani soldier allegedly in firing by Indian troops on the Line of Control that separates Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

On Jan 8, two Indian soldiers were killed and beheaded by Pakistani troops, 600 metres inside Indian territory in Mendhar sector of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. The killings evoked anger in India. On Thursday, a Pakistani soldier died in firing on the border. Islamabad summoned India’s High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal to protest the killing.