LoC killings: Armed forces have a free hand, says Antony

Zee Media Bureau/Hemant Abhishek New Delhi: Faced with repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC) and aggression by China in the Ladakh region, Defence Minister AK Antony on Monday said Indian armed forces had a free hand to take on those trespassing into Indian territory. Talking to scribes at the launch of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, Antony said, “Armed forces have freedom to respond to developing conditions on the border appropriately.” The statement holds significance in the light of recent killings of five Indian soldiers by Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch sector. Earlier, India had taken a strong objection to the Poonch killings with Antony opining that no attack on the Indian Army was possible without the help of the Pakistani Army, while hinting that the ties with Islamabad would be reviewed. In the recent past, there has also been a spate of incursions from the Chinese side into the Indian territory all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two sides stretching from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir in north to Arunachal Pradesh in the Northeast.