M A I N   N E W S

Flag meet
India, Pak to keep calm along border
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria/TNS

“We held a meeting with the Pakistan Rangers in a cordial atmosphere wherein we discussed a wide range of issues. We took unanimous decisions on some of them,” BSF Deputy Inspector General JC Singla told mediapersons after the meeting.

“The farmers can now harvest their crop up to the Zero Line. It’s a good thing. We also agreed on removing ‘sarkanda’ (wild grass). We will do it on our side and they will do so on theirs,” said Singla.

The officer said the BSF would try to keep peace on the border. On Rangers targeting BSF guards in July and August, followed by unprovoked firing and shelling of Indian posts and villages over the past 10 days, the DIG said the BSF lodged a strong protest with them but they remained in denial.

“They were in denial this time too, but somewhere inside they knew it had resulted in a flare-up,” the officer said. On the use of 82 mm mortars by the Rangers on innocent villagers, Singla said long-range weapons were not used on a big scale and mortars did not have a fixed range. “They do miss the target.”

Villages lie close to the border and since mortars don’t have a fixed range, they do miss the target and fall here and there,” he added.

“We are here on duty and would not allow anything to happen,” he said.

Pakistan’s Inayat post is located opposite the Octroi Post of the BSF, where the talks were held.

The Rangers were represented by Brigadier Mateen, Sector Commander of the Sialkot headquarters. At least 16 officers of the BSF and 15 of the Rangers participated in the meeting.

Besides Singla, two other Deputy Inspector Generals - Dharmender Pareekh and Virender Singh - were also present. The 10-day skirmishes have left one BSF jawan - ML Meena - dead and 31 others, including women and children, injured.