Addressing a press conference on the eve of the Army Day here on Monday, the Indian Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh said India would respond in equal measure if Pakistan breaches trust. He said that 10 Pakistani soldiers had been killed in a recent military action.

He ruled out any dilution of Armed Forces Special Powers Act in view of the prevailing situation in the region, including the possible terrorist spillover into the Valley after the United States drawdown in Afghanistan.

'We need to look at developments in Afghanistan in 2014 before we can look at perhaps tampering with or diluting the disturbed areas (act). This is in regard to the AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir,' he said.

Gen Singh also said it would be prudent to 'wait and watch for a while' before taking a call on AFSPA.

'As per military's prespective, (in view of) the situation prevailing in the Valley, I think we should wait for a while to see whether the situation remains the same, worsens or improves. Based on that we should take action,' the army chief said.

In a word of caution, he said perhaps there may be a certain amount of spillover from Afghanistan into Jammu and Kashmir. 'There are certain inputs alluding to this already. And, therefore, we need to be on guard,' he said.
Recently the leader of Aam Admi Party (AAP) Prashant Bhushan had asked for the lifting of AFSPA, saying it gave the army immunity in cases of human rights violation while causing alienation amongst the people. He called for seeking a mandate from the people of the state regarding lifting of AFSPA. The AAP has dissociated itself from Bhushan's remarks.

Regarding the threat from Pakistan, the Army Chief said : 'Let me assure you that action has been taken... If I can invite the attention to the Geo TV report on December 23, which talked of their one officer and nine jawans being killed with 12-13 being wounded. This has happened due to firing of your soldiers on ground. They have done their bit.'

Gen Singh said it is virtually a 'mini war at the local level' whenever ceasefire violation takes place on the Line on Control.

'The soldiers are doing a stupendous job. The local units are doing a good job. The soldiers have reacted well and they have reacted well as required,' he asserted.

When referred to the repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC, the
army chief said, 'It depends, if rules are followed by our neighbours, we follow the rules. If rules are broken, then obviously we cannot stick to the rules. Even we are going to break the rules.'

At the same time, he said that through retaliation, the 'endeavour is not to escalate the situation into operational or strategic arena. It is to deal with the same measure if not more and give a befitting response in a professional manner at place where we are fired upon.'