M A I N   N E W S

Pak army building bunkers
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 21
The Pakistan army is building bunkers, observation towers and new posts in close proximity to the International Border, including Barmer, Jaisalmer and Bikaner, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Home S. Raghupathy said in a written reply that though construction and improvement of defences, including setting up of new posts along the border, was an ongoing process, Pakistani activities were being closely monitored and suitable remedial measures are being adopted to deny advantages to the adversary.

In reply to another question, Mr Raghupathy said a total of 220 infiltrators/militants had been killed and 7,628 apprehended by the security forces during the 2005 (till October).

The majority of infiltrating terrorists were affiliated to Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, he said.

Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal informed the House that the overall cross-border infiltration from Pakistan and militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir during the past eight months had come down considerably compared to the corresponding period last year.

In a written reply in the Upper House, Mr Jaiswal said as per a report of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, there had been 207 estimated infiltrations and 1,466 terrorist-related incidents in April-November, 2005, compared to respective figures of 463 and 1,777.

He said India had conveyed to Pakistan that the current peace process between the two countries would be undermined unless Pakistan took effective measures to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism, including training camps, launch pads and communication links between terrorist groups on the Indian side and their handlers on the Pakistani side.

The Minister said Pakistan should take these steps to fulfil its commitment that it would not permit any territory under its control to be used to support terrorism in any manner.

He said the Centre, jointly with the state government, adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir and counter-infiltration efforts were reviewed periodically at various levels in the state and at the Centre.

Mr Jaiswal said the government had received a draft model law proposed by Justice P.N. Bhagwati for the enactment of a refugee law.