‘Army respects Ramzan truce, but will respond to unprovoked attacks’

New Delhi: Striking a hard note by saying the ongoing ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir for the month of Ramzan must be seen in a particular context, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that the Army respects the ceasefire, but reserves its right to retaliate in case of any unprovoked attacks.

Addressing a press conference to mark four years of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, Ms Sitharaman said: “We honour the ceasefire. We have been given room to hit back when there is unprovoked attack... The ceasefire will have to be contextualised.”

On May 29, the directors-general of military operations of India and Pakistan had a telephonic call on the hotline and agreed to defuse a flaring situation by sticking to the comprehensive ceasefire agreement of 2003 in “letter and spirit”. But within days, cross-border firing took place again across the international border, that claimed the lives of two BSF troopers.

On the declaration of the unilateral ceasefire by the home ministry for Ramzan, that began on May 17, the minister said the defence ministry had been privy to the decision. On engaging Pakistan in a peace dialogue, Ms Sitharaman reiterated external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s stand that “talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand”.

She added, “Ceasefire at the border is very important, but it is equally important to respond to any terror attacks on our country.”

On the Rafale fighter deal with France, the minister said there was absolutely “no scandal” and the allegations of wrongdoing relating to it were politically motivated. “I am assuring you in the company of all senior officials that yes, there is no scandal in Rafale. We are very clear about that,” she said. The Congress has raised several questions about the deal, including the price, and accused the government of compromising the national interest and national security while causing a loss to the public exchequer.