NEW DELHI: A total of 27 Indian soldiers have been killed in various incidents along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 10 years between 2004 to 2013.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to questions that there were 347 ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir in 2013 alone, while there were 114 in 2012 and 62 in 2011. Two Indian soldiers were beheaded by Pakistani special forces commandos, who were part of its Border Action Teams in January 2013. Five soldiers were killed by Pakistani commandos in an action against an Indian patrol team after crossing the LoC into India in Aug that year.
The Jan 2013 beheading of Indian soldiers had led to the then PM Manmohan Singh noting that there would be “no business as usual” with Pakistan after such violence and violation of the ceasefire signed in November 2003.
“All ceasefire violations are taken up with the concerned authorities of Pakistan at the appropriate level through the established mechanism of hotlines, flag meetings as well as weekly talks between the Director Generals of Military Operations,” Jaitley said.