In a serious provocation during Operation Sindoor, one Indian soldier was killed close to the Line of Control (LoC) after the Pakistan Army-backed terrorists were trying to intrude into the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, government officials said.
The intruders attempted to breach into India late on August 12, according to Army officials. Unlike usual infiltration attempts, these militants had firing support from the Pakistan Army, usually coordinated through Pakistan's Border Action Teams, the military's special cross-border operations wing.
There was a gun battle when Indian troops repelled the incursion, killing one soldier. Although the infiltration was foiled, the intruders took advantage of inclement weather to escape. Official word on the incident from the Army is still pending.
This is Pakistan's first significant provocation after the uneasy calm after Operation Sindoor, India's retaliatory operation after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 innocent people. Earlier, there had been Indian strikes over Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and drone attacks along the western border of India, after which both sides had agreed on a ceasefire when Islamabad approached New Delhi.
In the last few months, provocative comments have been made by Pakistani officials. Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir gained global attention for threatening to use nuclear weapons on India. During his speech in the US, Munir allegedly said that Pakistan would destroy "half the world" if it was threatened with destruction in a potential war with India.
India denounced the comments, terming Pakistan's "nuclear sabre-rattling" a habitual strategy and regretting that they were uttered from the soil of a friendly third nation.
"The international community can form its own opinion on the irresponsibility that lies in such observations, which also serves to reinforce the well-founded suspicions of the integrity of nuclear command and control within a state where the armed forces are hand-in-glove with terrorist organizations," the government said.
The Ministry of External Affairs further added, "India has already stated that it will not yield to nuclear blackmail and will continue to take all appropriate measures to ensure its national security.
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