Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 22: India has started strengthening its positions along the Line of Control (LoC) to completely curb infiltration attempts to prevent Uri like attacks in future with deployment of two more Brigades i.e. about 10,000 more Army personnel on the LoC. The two Brigades were in addition to one Brigade recently deployed in South Kashmir for serving twin purposes including maintenance of law and order and securing the borders.
“One full Brigade has been lifted from Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and another from Northern Command Headquarters in Udhampur and shifted to the Kashmir valley, mainly along LoC though some section of the troops have been kept reserved for law and order situation in the event of Kashmir unrest,” official sources told the Excelsior.
With deployment of two more Brigades, total number of three additional Brigades, about 15,000 troops, have been deployed in the Valley for strengthening Anti-Infiltration and Anti-Militancy Grids.
The deployment of additional Brigades came following reports that militants, backed by the Pakistani troops, have been taking advantage of two and half month long unrest in the Kashmir valley, and trying to infiltrate from the LoC to strengthen their positions in the Valley.
“Though the LoC was fenced, Army has decided not to take any chances and plug all infiltration gaps to ensure that there were no more infiltration attempts and no more Uri like attack,” they said, adding there had been inputs that militants could make more infiltration attempts during the next two months before the passes would close in the higher reaches in view of snowfall.
Admitting that Pathankot, Poonch and Uri like attacks this year were handiwork of freshly infiltrated militant groups, who were suicide squads of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant outfits, sources said: “had infiltration attempts been foiled on LoC or International Border, there would have been no attacks”.
In view of this, sources said, the Army wants to plug all infiltration routes along LoC to ensure that fresh groups didn’t manage to sneak into this side. They added that deployment of additional 15,000 troops in the Valley in the form of three Brigades was aimed at curbing intrusions and strengthening para-military CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police in their efforts to control unrest in the Valley.
Meanwhile, Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag had an hour long meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval this evening in New Delhi in which, they discussed security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and several measures including the Indian response to Pakistan on Uri attack.
Doval would now brief Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the situation.
Rajnath held another high level meeting this evening in his office in the Union capital with top officials of Ministry of Home Affairs and heads of para-military forces and Intelligence agencies to discuss the report of Madhukar Gupta Committee on strengthening fencing on LoC and IB to curb infiltration attempts.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had constituted a Committee under the chairmanship of Madhukar Gupta, former Home Secretary in April, 2016, for strengthening border protection and addressing the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along Indo-Pakistan Border.
The Committee today presented its report to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh few days ago. The Committee has made a detailed study through discussions on threat perception, field visits and detailed discussion with stakeholders. The Committee has made a detailed recommendations pertaining to strengthening of border protection along India and Pakistan
The Committee had studied all types of gaps in fencing and all other vulnerabilities in the International Border on Indo-Pakistan border and suggested comprehensive approach to fix these gaps in fencing and other vulnerabilities on interim and permanent basis.
Sources said the Home Ministry could implement important portions of Madhukar Gupta Committee report immediately to prevent infiltration of militants from Pakistan.
“The MHA officials would take up important portions of the report on emergency basis in Phase-I while rest of the measures, which were long term, would be taken up in the other phases,” they added.
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