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`Al-Qaeda presence not ruled out in J&K'

By Our Staff Reporter

Jammu Oct. 11. The Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. N.C. Vij, today said he did not rule out the possibility of the existence of Al-Qaeda militants in Jammu and Kashmir, as ``most of the terrorists killed in the State are foreign nationals these days.''

Gen. Vij, who was here to review the security arrangements for the winter season, criticised Pakistan for its continued support to violence in Jammu and Kashmir. ``On the ground, nothing has changed. Everything remains the same. We have information of 85 terrorist camps existing in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and 120 launching pads. And now we have reports of terrorism camps being operated from Pakistan Army units.''

Talking to reporters, Gen. Vij gave details on the success of anti-terrorist operations last month. ``We have successfully prevented 28 infiltration bids, killed 61 infiltrators and have eliminated as many as 211 terrorists.''

The 490-km stretch on the Line of Control (LoC) would be fenced by June next year to curb infiltration. Rejecting the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's suggestion of joint patrolling by India and Pakistan along the LoC, he said ``these proposals do not mean anything on the ground. There is absolutely no change of heart on the other side and facts speak for themselves.''

Asked whether the security situation within the State has improved after Operation Parakram, he said, ``yes''. However, he added that the improvement was also due to many other reasons such as the installation of surveillance and other modern equipment.

Defence exercise with Israel

Answering a question, the Army Chief said India could have joint defence exercises with Israel as it was already having such arrangements with the United States.

He had visited several south-east Asian countries, which faced problems related to terrorism, to work out details for defence arrangements.

On the Indo-China border issue, he said that ``we have better hopes in this sector after the successful visits of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister to China.''

``We have got peace and tranquillity in place along the Indo-China border. But there are differences of perception.''

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