Infiltration reduced substantially:Army Chief

Bangalore, May 27: Infiltration of militants into Jammu and Kashmir for the borders of Pakistan has come down substantially in recent months though training camps for terrorists are still operational in small towns and villages of the neighbouring country, Chief of Army Staf, Gen J J Singh said today.

Talking to newsmen here after flagging-off the Bogie Flat Arjun Tank (BFAT) at the Bharath Earth Movers Limited (BEML) here, he said the key focus of the Army was to reduce infiltration and bring down violence in the hinterland.

On the proposal of withdrawal of armed forces and demilitarising in Siachen the highest battleground in the world he said that such decision should be vetted with proper authentication of exact ground situation in the region. He replied in the negative when asked whether the infiltration by terrorists would increse in the summer months.

While expressing satisfaction over the Army's performance he said the security personnel were enjoying moral ascendency over terrorists after applying sustained pressure on them. Both violence and infiltration had come down substantially in the trouble torn state thanks to the efforts and struggle of the security personnel.

Replying to a question he said that insurgency problem in Jammu and other parts of the country could not be solved by the military alone as there the socio-economic problems prevailing in these areas also need to be tackled effectively.

UNI