Defence Sec on J

Jammu, July 5: Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt today began his two-day tour to assess if the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir is favourable for withdrawal of troops.

Mr Dutt was received by XVI 'White Knight' Corps GOC Lt Gen T K Sapru on his arrival this morning.

Accompanied by a team of other senior officials, the Defence Secretary left for Rajouri, Poonch and Doda districts of this region, where he held consultations with the commanders of the formations deployed in these areas, official sources said.

Mr Dutt, who heads the panel announced by the Prime Minister Manmonhan Singh in March to assess situation with regard to reconfiguration of security forces in J and K, will tomorrow hold a high level meeting of officials at Srinagar.

He will submit the panel's report after the Srinagar meeting to Defence Minister A K Antony.

Following the demand of troops reductions by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a coalition partner in the Congress-led state government, Dr Singh had announced a panel headed by the Defence Secretary to study the ground situation in the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir.

UNI