Fernandes rules out `hot pursuit' of terrorists

Fernandes rules out `hot pursuit' of terrorists
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, AUG 26: Defence Minister George Fernandes today ruled out `hot pursuit' of terrorists across the Line of Control (LoC) saying any action to attack and destroy terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) would invariably result in deaths of innocent people.

``Terrorist camps in pok and other areas across LoC are not exclusive zones but are located in civilian enclaves,'' he told reporters here.

Fernandes said, ``Any action to attack and destroy these camps will invariably cause collateral damage resulting in deaths of innocent men, women and children and, therefore, would be against the humanitarian principles India has always stood for.''

Stressing that New Delhi was determined to defeat Pakistan-backed proxy war for the last ten years, he said India was capable of countering Islamabad's designs, thanks to the determination of the Army.

Fernandes said in matters of national security ``there cannot be a last word till the last of the enemy was annihilated.'' Government, he said, is empowered to take any significant decision keeping the country's security interests in view.

Maintaining that the proxy war involved Pakistan's attempts to encroach Indian territory by overrunning a post here or there, Fernandes said another issue of concern was infiltration of terrorists by Islamabad into India.

Foreigners, he said, constituted 70 per cent of mercenaries active in Jammu and Kashmir who were equipped with ``most modern'' weapons and means of communications besides improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and high explosive rdx to target anyone including innocent civilians.

Referring to the incident on August 24 when Pakistani soldiers tried to capture an Indian post north of Poonch in J-K, he said about 12 to 14 Pakistani soldiers were killed and several wounded in the Indian retaliatory action.

He also said during intensified operations against foreign mercenaries, Indian troops had killed 394 terrorists between June and August 24, this year.