Soldiers pay tribute to the five Army jawans at Palam airport in New Delhi. (PTI)
New Delhi: Under attack from the Opposition, Defence Minister AK Antony is likely to make a fresh statement in Parliament today on the killing of five Indian soldiers at the Line of Control in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir.
The minister's earlier statement on the incident has led to a huge political storm with the opposition accusing him of letting Pakistan off the hook. The BJP has also demanded an apology from him. The government has however defended Mr Antony and has said that there was no need for him to apologise.
On Tuesday, Mr Antony said that 20 heavily armed militants accompanied by "persons dressed in Pakistan Army uniforms" had ambushed an Army patrol on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, 200 km south of Srinagar.
The Opposition is stressing that the minister's detailing of the deadly ambush differed from the assessment of the Indian Army, which initially blamed the Pakistani army for the killings.
According to a report in news agency Press Trust of India, the statement made by Mr Antony was reportedly vetted by several senior officials including National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, the DGMO and some Defence Ministry officers.
The killing of the jawans on Tuesday and its fallout dominated the discussions in both Houses of parliament on Wednesday. The Opposition held up proceedings over what it called Mr Antony's "blunder".
Top BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday and conveyed "deep anguish" over Mr Antony's statement. They reportedly also cautioned him against holding talks with newly-elected Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The two leaders are likely to hold separate talks at the UN General Assembly session in New York next month.
The Defence Minister was present at the meeting with the BJP. He had met the Prime Minister on Wednesday morning and later told Parliament that his statement on Tuesday was based on "whatever information" he had at the time, promising to update the Houses after Army Chief General Bikram Singh's Kashmir visit on Wednesday.
The minister's earlier statement on the incident has led to a huge political storm with the opposition accusing him of letting Pakistan off the hook. The BJP has also demanded an apology from him. The government has however defended Mr Antony and has said that there was no need for him to apologise.
On Tuesday, Mr Antony said that 20 heavily armed militants accompanied by "persons dressed in Pakistan Army uniforms" had ambushed an Army patrol on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch, 200 km south of Srinagar.
According to a report in news agency Press Trust of India, the statement made by Mr Antony was reportedly vetted by several senior officials including National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, the DGMO and some Defence Ministry officers.
The killing of the jawans on Tuesday and its fallout dominated the discussions in both Houses of parliament on Wednesday. The Opposition held up proceedings over what it called Mr Antony's "blunder".
Top BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday and conveyed "deep anguish" over Mr Antony's statement. They reportedly also cautioned him against holding talks with newly-elected Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The two leaders are likely to hold separate talks at the UN General Assembly session in New York next month.
The Defence Minister was present at the meeting with the BJP. He had met the Prime Minister on Wednesday morning and later told Parliament that his statement on Tuesday was based on "whatever information" he had at the time, promising to update the Houses after Army Chief General Bikram Singh's Kashmir visit on Wednesday.
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