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Monday, Feb 08, 2010
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Hostile groups operating from across the border: Manmohan

Special Correspondent

We will foil designs of the dark forces, says Chidambaram

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

FOCUS ON SECURITY: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussing a point with Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram at the conference of Chief Ministers in New Delhi on Sunday. Defence Minister A.K. Antony is at right.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday that hostile groups and elements were operating “from across the border to perpetrate terrorist acts in our country, and Jammu and Kashmir bears the brunt of the acts of these groups.”

There was a marked decline in the number of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir from 2008 to 2009, he said, but expressed concern at the increase in the number of infiltration bids.

Among the other major threats to the country’s security were insurgency and violence in the northeast and left-wing extremism, he said, inaugurating the Chief Ministers’ conference on internal security here.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram described the Pakistan-based terror groups as “dark forces,” which were “implacably” opposed to India. They would be defeated whenever confronted, he said.

In his opening statement, he said such militant groups as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen staged a meeting at Muzaffarabad in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Thursday. “Their weapons are mayhem and violence, and their goal is forcible annexation of Kashmir. Let me make it clear that these dark forces will not succeed in their designs,” Mr. Chidambaram said.

The observations of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister come at a time when India has offered to resume talks with Pakistan. The talks have remained suspended after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Cautioning against the forces that were trying to divide society on communal and regional lines, Dr. Singh said: “Each one of these threats requires a strong effort, determination, hard work and continuous vigilance to tackle. These threats to our society, to our polity and our country constitute a challenge that we must and we shall meet effectively at all costs.”

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