Violence, stone pelting, agitations down in Valley
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 17: The Defence Ministry today said security situation in Jammu and Kashmir continues to witness consistent improvement since abrogation of Article 370.
In its year-end review of 2022, the Ministry of Defence said the `Whole of Nation Approach’ has resulted in reduction of violence, stone pelting and agitations in the Kashmir Valley.
“Incipient normalcy has resulted in consequent focus on tourism with 3.65 lakh pilgrims visiting the holy Amarnath shrine and significant increase in the number of tourists visiting the Valley in 2022,” the Ministry said.
It added that incident free conduct of Shri Amarnath yatra in current years is not only a testimony of the robust security architecture in the Valley but also vindicates the desire for peace amongst locals and their willingness to reap its dividends and the locals of Kashmir deserve due credit for this.
As far as the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab is concerned, the Ministry of Defence said it remained peaceful.
“The year 2022 witnessed intensive efforts by adversaries towards employment of drones to disturb peace and security along the border areas. However, the Indian Army has taken a series of measures to counter this threat,” the Ministry said.
It said there have been persistent attempts by inimical elements operating from across the International Border to construct tunnels close to the border for smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics in addition to infiltration of armed terrorists.
Referring to situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the year-end review said with diplomatic and military efforts, effective disengagement with PLA forces was achieved from the area of PP 15 (Eastern Ladakh) in September.
“This disengagement was carried out almost a year after the previous such disengagement which was effected from Gogra in August 2021. As part of the engagement mechanism, a total of 16 rounds of Corps Commander level meetings and 12 related Working mechanism for consultation and coordination meetings have been held till date and subsequent talks are being scheduled to discuss disengagement in the balance friction areas in Eastern Ladakh,” the statement said.
The Ministry further said that this year the Indian side has thwarted a total of 12 infiltration bids by Pakistan along the Line of Control and killed 18 foreign militants.
The MoD blamed Pakistan for continuing to retain proxy war infrastructure and “prosecute the proxy war” in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Functionality of training camps, presence of terrorists in launch pads and continuing infiltration attempts, vindicate persistent intent of Pakistan,” it said.
The Ministry has said that Pakistan continues to exploit the narco-terror nexus to radicalize and motivate innocent youth using pistols and grenades.
“The Indian Army primarily focused on maintaining its operational preparedness in line with India’s desire to ensure stability and dominance along the Line of Actual Control, Line of Control, carried out relentless counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations and maintained high training standards while constantly monitoring and reviewing emerging and future threats to national security,” it stated.
The Army is prepared for all military contingencies resulting out of the collusive threat from the military modernization and aggressive actions by the country’s adversaries while creating capacities to deal with emerging threats in cyber, space and information domains due to the blurring of physical borders, it said.
The February 2021 DGMO Understanding refers to the discussions held between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO) of India and Pakistan over the established mechanism of hotline contact. During the discussions, both sides “had agreed upon strict observance of all agreements, understandings and ceasefire along the Line of Control and all other sectors from midnight on 24/25 February 2021”.
The year-end review further stated that the situation has been relatively peaceful with both sides adhering to the DGMO Understanding. “As compared to 4,645 ceasefire violations during its peak in 2020, only three minor incidents have been recorded since the Understanding in February 2021 with only one incident during 2022. This year, Pakistan’s attempts to push in terrorists have resulted in 12 infiltration attempts being eliminated along the LoC,” it said while adding that large quantities of arms and ammunition recovered in the process.
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