On the Line of Control, June 16
Infiltration of Al-Qaida cadres in Jammu and Kashmir may well be a trump card of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the state may witness a new spurt in militancy in the coming days.
This is the perception of senior Army officers deployed on the 740-km-long LoC, often called the “Line of No Control”. In private conversations, the officers admit that a new phase is poised to come in the 13-year-old militancy in the state with the Al-Qaida terrorists.
However, officially, they are loathe to even acknowledge the presence of Al-Qaida cadres in J & K. “These are just reports. We have no confirmation,” was the terse comment of the 16 Corps Commander, Lieut-Gen J.B.S Yadav.
Major-Gen Randhir Singh, GOC 25 Division, while speaking in Mendhar to a visiting group of reporters from Delhi, said, “There are no reports of Al-Qaida cadres here. Even if they are to be here, it would not make any difference. It would not bring about any escalation.”
Meanwhile, despite the economic crunch, Pakistan has spared neither money nor effort in recent months to beef up its military defences and acquire offensive capabilities.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who is also the chief of staff of the Pakistan Army, has visited the border areas several times and, as a result, a visible change is being seen across the LoC.
Major-Gen Sudhir Sharma, GOC Pallanwalan sector, pointed out the following salient features of military preparations across the borders:
* The Pakistani defences have become fully activated.
* More ammunition has arrived on Pakistani posts.
* Their weaknesses have been reinforced.
* Their offensive positions have been beefed up to enable them carry out offensive missions against India.
