New Delhi, Apr 16: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh Monday said there has been a perceptible improvement in security environment in Jammu and Kashmir. However, he exhorted the states to work in a coordinated manner to meet the challenge of terrorism.
Inaugurating the annual conference of Chief Ministers on internal security, he said; “Like other internal security matters, we need to work together and launch joint efforts to tackle these challenges, especially, at a time when situation in North East remains complex.
The issue of National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) caste its shadow on the meet even as Dr Singh said that it would be discussed in detail in the specially convened conference of Chief Ministers on May 5. “We will discuss the NCTC on May 5 in a separate meeting as some chief ministers suggested,” he said.
Echoing similar views Home Minister P Chidambaram said that there has been a dramatic improvement in the internal security situation in most parts of the country including J&K. While maintaining that violence declined in 2011 in J&K, North East or in the Left-Wing Extremism-affected states, he warned that the International Border in the west and LoC continue to be vulnerable to infiltration from across the border.”
He cautioned that the militant groups are nimble, more lethal than ever and increasingly networked across frontiers. “The state governments are at the frontline in defending the security. In J&K, peaceful tourism has also increased. 2012 will see further advancement in bringing peace. The conspiracies behind two terror attacks in 2012 have been solved. Prime suspects in recent blasts in 2012 are Indian nationals,” Chidambaram said.
While counting on the decline trend in all kinds of violence, Chidambaram felt that a more worrying factor is emerging in the form of people jumping to support terror accused on the basis of religion.  At the same time, he said that due to persistent radicalization, many Indian groups have acquired the capacity to carry out attacks and there was no let-up in the attempts to strike wherever there was an opportunity.
In order to build pressure on the government on the contentious issue of NCTC, non-Congress chief ministers later held separate parleys. J Jayalalithaa of Tamil Nadu, Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, Narendra Modi of Gujarat and deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal, all of whom are opposed to the NCTC, joined in the talks.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST