Fitting reply to be given against Pak firing: Sushilkumar Shinde

NEW DELHI: Angry over the killing of a BSF jawan in overnight firing by Pakistani troops, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today said a fitting reply would be given against such unprovoked acts from across the border.

Shinde said additional BSF troops were being sent to man the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of continuing ceasefire violations.

"We will give a fitting reply to Pakistan," Shinde told reporters here in his reaction to yesterday's firing by Pakistani troops on 50 BSF outposts along IB.

The firing came on the heels of a visit by Shinde to the Jammu region yesterday to review the situation along the border and discuss ways to deal with ceasefire violations.

Altogether, more than 130 ceasefire violations have been reported so far this year, the highest for the past eight years.

Pakistani Rangers had on Monday opened fire at 10 border posts and heavily shelled over 50 border outposts the following night, killing a head constable of BSF.

Asked about the infiltration attempts, Shinde said, "There are rivers and rivulets which are tough to fence. But we have discussed possible solutions".

Shinde had yesterday conducted an aerial tour of the fenced areas along IB besides surveying infiltration routes and damaged fencing and riverine border belts with Pakistan lying between Akhnoor in Jammu district and Pahadpur (in Kathua district).