Hailing the heads of various security agencies for tackling militancy successfully and curbing recruitment of local youth into militancy, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Monday directed them to “keep up the good work so that peace becomes a permanent feature in J&K”.
Singh also expressed his satisfaction over the security planto be put in place for the upcoming Amarnath yatra starting July 1.
Singh, who was accompanied by the Army Chief General BipinRawat, arrived in Kashmir in the morning and straightaway went to Siachen, theworld’s highest battleground.
Today’s visit was the first by Singh as Defence Minister ofthe new Union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that was sworn inrecently.
“After interacting with soldiers and army officers atSiachen, the Defence Minister visited forward posts to raise the morale of thesoldiers deployed to protect the borders,” a source in the defence ministrysaid.
In the afternoon, Singh reached the army’s Srinagar-based 15Corps headquarters where he chaired a high-level security review meet.
Officials’ privy to the meeting told Greater Kashmir thatSingh was given a power-point presentation on prevailing situation in Kashmirthat entailed details of anti-militancy operations, status of infiltrationalong the LoC and International Border, local militant recruitment and overallsecurity scenario in the state.
“Singh was also given a detailed presentation on thesecurity plan formulated by various security agencies for the yatra,” he said.
A senior security official told Greater Kashmir that Singhexpressed his satisfaction over a series of anti-militancy operations launchedby security forces since 2018 and the “great success achieved since Januarythis year on the militancy front.”
“Singh was told that about 105 militants were killed thisyear so far and nearly 20 militants were killed every month since January. Hewas also told that the efforts of security forces were aimed at ensuring zerocollateral damage during anti-militancy operations,” said the official.
He was told that militants have made no major infiltrationattempt along the LoC so far this year. The official said the Defence Ministerwas also told about the declining graph of local militant recruitment this yearand the efforts of security forces to curb the recruitment.
“He was told that the army’s appeal to mothers of militantsto ask their sons to give up arms was bearing fruit as many youth shunnedviolence and returned to their families in the recent past,” the official said.
Singh was also briefed about the multi-pronged strategy keptin place by the police, the CRPF and the army for the smooth yatra, the sourcesaid.
“The Defence Minister expressed his satisfaction over thepreparations for the incident free pilgrimage and felicitated security agenciesfor maintaining close synergy and coordination,” he added.
In a statement issued here, Defence Spokesman in SrinagarColonel Rajesh Kalia said that Defence Minister visited Kashmir to review theprevailing security situation.
“In Srinagar, the Defence Minister and the Army Chief werereceived by northern army commander Lieutenant General Ranbhir Singh and GoC 15Corps Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon,” the spokesman said.
He said the Defence Minister was briefed in detail about thesituation along the LoC, the hinterland and the successful anti-militancyoperations.
“He was also apprised of great synergy and the closecoordination among all government agencies towards bringing back normalcy inthe region and about the preparations for the smooth conduct of upcomingAmarnath yatra,” the defence spokesman said.
“The Defence Minister urged all to continue the good workthey were doing and ensure safety of innocent people while dealing firmly withinimical elements. He also urged the commanders to maintain strict vigil alongthe LoC and remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure fromacross,” he added.