NEWS

Kalam reviews J&K situation

By Josy Joseph in New Delhi
May 03, 2004 11:18 IST

President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday reviewed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir with army commanders.

Army chief General N C Vij was among those who attended the meeting at the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, Jammu.

During the daylong trip, the President will visit the Line of Control, inaugurate a school, meet soldiers injured in counterinsurgency operations and interact with children and military personnel.

The President will fly to an army post in Bhimbargali in Poonch sector, where he will be briefed about the situation along the border. Though infiltration registered a noticeable drop this winter compared to last year, there were three or four infiltration attempts, and all of them in the Poonch sector, according to army sources.

The President will also be briefed about the fencing work being carried out along the LoC.

A little less than 600km of the 740km LoC is being fenced. The areas where fencing is not going on are the tall peaks in Kargil sector and similar heights through which infiltration is considered almost impossible.

The President will also inspect new gadgets such as the various sensors that are deployed along the LoC to help check infiltration.

Kalam will wind up his visit in Pathankot, where he will inspect some Indian Air Force equipment and also visit a war memorial.

This is the President's second visit to J&K in a short span. A few weeks back he became the first President to visit Siachen. In fact, now that the general election is on he has been restricting himself to military functions.

In the last week of April he was in Kochi to receive INS Tarangini, and ensured that he did not have any civil function outside the naval base to avoid sharing a public platform with political leaders.

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

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