Govt denies Indian troops crossing LoC

RAWALPINDI—The government on Thursday denied that Indian troops had crossed the border in the divided Kashmir region to help Pakistani troops repair a bunker damaged by Saturday’s earthquake. India’s military said that a small group of Indian soldiers crossed the heavily armed frontline in the disputed Himalayan region on Tuesday close to the damaged Peace Bridge linking Pakistani and Indian controlled parts of Kashmir.
They said the Pakistan soldiers invited them. But the Pakistan military said nothing of this sort happened. “Let me say on record that this is totally fabricated,” military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan told reporters. “It is baseless and absolutely untrue. There is no question of the Indian army crossing the line of control (LoC),” he said, referring to the LoC dividing the territory, over which India and Pakistan have fought two out of their three wars.
Kashmir, at the foothills of the Himalayas, can be difficult to reach at the best of times but the 7.6 magnitude earthquake has cut off parts of it completely. Playing down some spats of press reports, Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Shaukat Sultan on Thursday categorically denied that Indian soldier had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) for taking part in relief operations.
Amid some reports that Indian troops have crossed the LoC to help Pakistani counterparts rebuild their shattered quarters, Shaukat Sultan underscored that these all are untrue and baseless reports.
Earlier, reports said that the Pakistani soldiers invited the Indians to help them rebuild some of their bunkers after sleeping in the open in increasingly cold temperatures. However, BBC’s Sanjeev Srivastava informed that such a crossing would have resulted in bloodshed.
Some spates of press reports said that one soldier pointed towards Muzaffarabad, the devastated one-time upscale capital of the Pakistani part of Kashmir, and said Indian helicopters could reach with supplies of goods and other commodities within 15 minutes saying that instead they are not permitted to cross the LoC.
With the bridge connecting the Indian and Pakistani sectors of Kashmir destroyed, Delhi and Islamabad have also waived travel restrictions to allow some Kashmiri families to return home through the Wagah border in Punjab.
Our correspondent adds that there is growing demand for easier access across the divided valley, allowing people to cross over to try to help loved ones on the other side.—Agencies