Extend ceasefire: Army Chief

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 12. India should extend further the Kashmir ceasefire to help in initiating a ``peace process'' in the State, the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. S. Padmanabhan, has said.

``Extension of the ceasefire is a decision which the Government of India has to take. My advice, if I am allowed, would be `yes' as it is a good thing to continue with,'' he said to a question at a press conference this evening.Gen. Padmanabhan said the advantages of continuing the ceasefire far outweighed its disadvantages. It had generated a ``burgeoning of hope'' in the Kashmir Valley and had resulted in dramatic political developments in the Subcontinent towards peace.

The Army Chief acknowledged that the ceasefire had slowed down military operations in Kashmir. Only non-Kashmiris spearheaded by foreign militants, belonging to the Lashkar-e- Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad, were now keeping militancy alive. The Army was undertaking precision strikes on militant strongholds after acquiring accurate intelligence.

Pakistan had not pulled back its forces from the frontline but had thinned them down in some areas in the rear, he said. Troop reduction was not significant as only those additional troops which Pakistan had pushed ahead after the Kargil war or had been positioned there for training had been pulled back.

Sources said that after Kargil, Pakistan had pushed in its 22 Brigade and 111 (I) Infantry Brigade belonging to its Eleventh Division in the high altitude area. Besides, two brigades of Pakistan's 19 Division, belonging to its Rawalpindi based 10 Corps had been posted in an area facing the Poonch- Rajouri sector, mainly for aiding infiltration.

According to Gen. Padmanabhan, India had pruned down forces in certain areas. But the process would be time-consuming and would have to be commensurate with operational requirements.

Stricter vigil had reduced infiltration in Kashmir. The guns had fallen silent in all areas along the Line of Control and, for the first time, in the Siachen glacier area.

On the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), he said ``As India had become a nuclear State, there was a need for creating a post which could render single point advice.'' The Group of Ministers was deliberating on the creation of such a post and was likely to announce their decision soon.

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