Marked decline in terrorist violence in J&K, says PM

Noting that there has been a “significant decline” in terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday praised police and paramilitary forces for their efforts. However, infiltration attempts were on the rise from the Pakistan border, he said.

“Notwithstanding recent pressure for infiltration into Jammu & Kashmir, the collaborative efforts of the police and the security forces have led to a significant decline in the number of operating terrorists as also in terrorist violence in the state of the Jammu and Kashmir,” Dr. Singh said, addressing the annual DGPs/IGPs conference here.

Asking the State police chiefs, heads of paramilitary forces and top intelligence sleuths to step up vigil against infiltration attempts on both land borders and along the sea coast, the Prime Minister said: “In Jammu and Kashmir, we are beginning to see increasing infiltration attempts, across the Line of Control and even the international border. There are also indications about terrorist groups maintaining their ability to use the sea route.”

While inaugurating the conference on Thursday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said India was aware of the threat that various terrorist outfits still continued to pose.

“We are cognisant of the continuous thrust of Pakistan-based Islamist groups to infiltrate terrorists and hardware across the International Border and Line of Control and elevate the level of terrorist violence in different parts of India,” he said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that improvement in the security environment resulted in a successful Amarnath Yatra this year, while there had been a major improvement in the influx of tourists. Compared to 5 lakh tourists in 2011, over 9 lakh tourists have already visited this year. “The State has also successfully conducted the panchayat elections and is now poised to take up the responsibility of conducting elections to the urban local bodies,” he added.