'Talks with Pak. only after cross-border terrorism stops'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 16. While ruling out talks with Pakistan till it stopped aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism, the Union Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, today said the Government would talk on Kashmir issue to ``our own people'' who have been released recently. The obvious reference was to the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leaders who have been released from jail in phases.

``Those released are not infiltrators but our own people. We will talk to our own people though there will be no talks with Pakistan till they stop encouraging cross-border terrorism,'' Mr. Advani told the Lok Sabha while replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour.

Referring to the problem of infiltration from across the border, Mr. Advani said it was difficult to make a realistic estimate about the number of infiltrators because they enter surreptitiously and were able to mingle easily with the local population due to ethnic and linguistic similarities as the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh were porous.

Outlining various measures taken to check infiltration, he said these included construction of border roads, border fencing, raising of additional battalions of the Border Security Force (BSF) and reducing gaps between border outposts.

Admitting that illegal immigration into Assam was quite large, the Home Minister said it was because of it that there was a growing demand for doing away with the Illegal Migration Determination Tribunal (IMDT) Act as it was becoming difficult to deport illegal migrants at present.

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