New Delhi, August 19
The government today stopped short of any commitment on a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York next month.

In reply to a question by Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley that whether the government was still looking at engagement with Pakistan at the “highest level” in this atmosphere, Defence Minister AK Antony said: “My words in the statement may be different from what the Leader of the Opposition had said, but the feeling is the same.”

“Our restraint should not be taken for granted nor should the capacity of our armed forces and resolve of the government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted,” he said.

On clarifications raised by members on a suo motu statement issued by him earlier in the day on the killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistani soldiers, Antony said: “Yes it (the ambush in Poonch district of Jammu on August 6 by Pakistani soldiers) would have consequences on our relationship with Pakistan” and that the government understands “the mood of the nation”.

He assured the members that the response of the government would be based on the response of the House and that the government respected the unanimous response of the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier, Jaitley had sought a clarification from the Defence Minister on conflicting signals emerging from across the border.

The Defence Minister assured the House that the statement issued by him earlier in the day was the “statement by the government” and that the government was bound by every paragraph of it.

“We mean every word of the statement and it has been prepared with great deliberation,” Antony said.

Members, cutting across party lines, sought to know the government’s response to the killing of Indian soldiers.

Antony said the government understood the mood of the nation, of Parliament and that everybody was behind the Indian Army to protect the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC). “The Army has full support of the government,” he said.

Our restraint should not be taken for granted nor should the capacity of our armed forces and resolve of the government to uphold the sanctity of the LoC ever be doubted


— AK Antony,  Defence Minister