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Pak stepping up campaign, says PM: PTI

"We have seen no dilution in Pakistan's attempts to intensify its proxy war against India," he told the 35th conference of directors and inspectors general of police organised by the Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi.

Vajpayee, who spoke while being seated, apparently because of his knee problem, said, "Everybody knows how Pakistan-backed terrorist organisations sabotaged the peace talks in Jammu and Kashmir".

India has made it clear it could resume talks only after Pakistan stopped cross-border terrorism and violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

The prime minister said terrorist violence in J&K and other parts of India, engineered by protagonists of terror from across the border, was an example of challenges the country faced.

Terming the law and order situation in the north-east as "worrisome", he said, "Separatist and terrorist groups, apart from criminals bereft of ideology of any shade, continue to indulge in violence and extortion. This has adversely affected development schemes".

Welcoming the prime minister, IB director Shyamal Dutta regretted that intelligence and police organisations were "paraded in public" for failures but successes in protecting top politicians and thwarting many cases of terrorist violence and crime went unnoticed.

At the same time, Dutta clarified that law-enforcing agencies were "not in the business for headlines". He lauded IB officials for providing inputs to neutralise Pakistan-sponsored designs in J&K "without much security cover" and also unearthing seven espionage networks this year.

He also referred to "long overdue investment" on the part of the government in intelligence-gathering especially keeping in view new generation cyber and other crimes.

Vajpayee told the country's top police brass that yet another challenge to the country's internal security was the "scourge" of Left-wing extremism.

"Innocent people in several states continue to fall victim to these perpetrators of violence. We must deal with a firm hand Left extremist groups to drive home the message that there is no space for violence in a democratic polity," he said.

He asked police forces, like in Andhra Pradesh, which have done well in tackling this menace, to share their experience with other states. "A joint effort can take us a long way in defeating political extremism that rests on violence".

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