LoC violation: Are talks enough or should India take action?

What should be India’s response to the mutilation of the body of an Indian soldier in the LoC violation in Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir? Should India continue the process of dialogue or should it adopt a tough stance on the attack and retaliate with military strength?

“If the army is not used (at this stage of firing and counter attack) then why waste the taxpayer’s money on maintaining the 1.3 million strong army anyway? People who wish to continue with the peace process can do so but the nation has to decide whether that is the only way, " retired Lt. Gen. Shankar Prasad told Barkha Dutt on NDTV.

According to him, the government has to consider going out on an all-out offensive against Pakistan, though he maintained that war is not the best option.

It was because the army was controlled by the government, he said, that it was cornered into a position of negotiation.

However, Kamran Shafi, former army official and columnist from Pakistan, said that such outbursts can only result in more violence.

“He (Gen. Prasad) suggests that Indian army does not wear bangles. But neither does our army wear bangles,” he said, indicating that they would respond to India’s military might with their own army if the need arises.

“We have also lost our people in the cross-border firing. Naik Aslam of the Pak army was buried today and another soldier  is fighting for his life in a hospital in Rawalpindi,” Shafi said.

However, Shafi condemned the act of mutilation of the soldier’s body but observed that both the sides should exercise restraint.

You can watch the entire discussion ‘The Buck Stops Here’ anchored by Barkha Dutt on NDTV here .