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| J&K situation matter of concern, Pak terror camps intact: Antony | | |
Kochi, Jan 9: Admitting that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was a matter of concern, Defence Minister A K Antony today said Pakistan was not taking any step to stop terrorist outfits operating from across the border.
Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the Indian Coast Guard Investiture ceremony here, Mr Antony said ''though the Kashmir situation, compared to last year, has not worsened, there were large number of terrorists waiting along the border to infiltrate into Indian territory and this was a matter of concern.'' ''Inspite of the repeated requests from the Government, almost all the terrorist outfits operating from across the border are still operating and the Government of Pakistan is not taking any step.
This was a matter of concern though India was taking all precautions,'' he added.
To a query on Army Chief Deepak Kapoor's recent statement that India was capable of fighting a two-pronged war and Pakistan's subsequent reaction to that, Mr Antony categorically stated that ''India was not a war-mongering country and inspite of our differences with some of the neighbouring countries, we are trying to improve our relations with them.'' Reiterating that the country was not nursing any 'extra territorial' ambition, Mr Antony noted that the main concern was to protect the territorial integrity of India.
Stressing that the act of protecting the territorial integrity was a 'deterrent action', the Defence Minister said India would take all steps in that direction.
Mr Antony said the coastal security was becoming all the more important after the 26/11 Mumbai incidents and joint operations centres had started functioning at Mumbai, Kochi, Port Blair and Vishakapatnam to spruce up the security along the shorelines.
Detailing the steps to strengthen the coastal security, Mr Antony said the Government had initiated the process of acquisition of 20 fast patrol vehicles, 41 interceptor boats, 12 coastal surveillance aircraft and seven offshore petrol vehicles for the Coast Guard.
A regional headquarters of the Coast Guard had been set up at Gandhinagar to oversee the Gujarat coast, he added.
''The Government had also cleared the starting of four air enclaves for the Coast Guard in Kochi, New Mangalore, Goa and Vishakapatnam and for setting up nine new coastal stations across the country this year,'' he said.
Mr Antony also noted that the procedures to install 46 static radars across nine coastal stations in various parts of the country were almost completed.
He said the Government had also sanctioned close to 20 per cent more recruitment in the Coast Guard and within a few years a new Indian Coast Guard would be on vogue.
When asked whether the State governments were doing enough to ensure coastal security, Mr Antony said the Navy and the Coast Guard were getting full support from all the coastal states and the Centre would take all steps to guarantee coastal security to Kerala and all other coastal states.
He said after the Mumbai attacks, there was perfect co-ordination among the Navy, Coast Guard, Fisheries, Customs, Excise, CISF, Marine Police and other stakeholders to protect the 7,500 km coastline of the country.
Terming the fisherfolk the 'unofficial link' of the Coast Guard and Navy, Mr Antony said the local fishermen were becoming more aware of the problem in hand and co-operating with the stakeholders of coastal security.
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