Congress slams government over increasing ceasefire violations

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday slammed the government over the increase in ceasefire violations at the India-Pakistan border and also accused it of politically misusing the surgical strike of 2016.

"National security has become limited to the speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is a 500-time increase in ceasefire violations," Congress spokesperson Pramod Tiwari said.

"There have been 2,474 ceasefire violations since this government came to power in 2014," he added.

He also clarified that the Congress was not trying to politicise the issue, it was just "expressing its concern".

Tiwari also attacked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah for stating in a speech in the Rajya Sabha on Monday that it was for the first time that a surgical strike was carried out in 2016.

"He has insulted every soldier by saying this. The soldiers who took part in the surgical strike were very brave, but were the soldiers who fought before them over the years not brave as well?"

"Surgical strikes took place earlier as well, but we never disclosed it due to security concerns. The BJP is trying to politically use the surgical strike," he added.

The cross-border surgical strike was carried out by Indian forces in the backdrop of the September 18 terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir, in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed.

On September 29, Indian troops went across the Line of Control (LoC) and destroyed several terror launchpads.