Pakistan to give robust response to any aggression: defense minister

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Monday said Pakistan will give a robust response to any aggression, local Urdu media reported.

"Pakistan shall vigorously deter enemy aggression and deliver a robust response," the defense minister said while addressing army officers and troops at the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region.

Condemning the repeated violations of the ceasefire by Indian army, the defense minister said Indian army opened fire at innocent civilians on the Pakistani side of the border multiple times throughout the previous year.

"Sacrifices of our soldiers and civilians have strengthened the nation and its resolve to defend its liberty at all costs," Dastgir said.

The Pakistani foreign ministry said on Saturday that five Pakistani civilians lost their lives and 22 others were injured in three days as unabated and unprovoked firing and shelling by Indian troops from across the Working Boundary and the LoC continued.

Pakistan and India had declared ceasefire along the LoC and the Working Boundary in 2003. Both, however, usually accuse each other of violating the ceasefire.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Enditem