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Armed forces will stay in J&K: Fernandes

By Luv Puri

JAMMU JUNE 21. The Defence Minister, George Fernandes, said today that the question of sending the armed forces in the State to the barracks did not arise. He denied the statement attributed to him on Thursday where he was quoted to have said in Srinagar that the Centre would consider the All-Party Hurriyat Conference proposal in this regard.

Addressing reporters here, before leaving for the capital, Mr. Fernandes said he had merely said that a dialogue with the APHC would be considered and not its conditions for one(among the Hurriyat conditions for a dialogue were permission to go to Pakistan and return of the armed forces to the barracks).

He said that on Thursday after the function in Srinagar, mediapersons "gheraoed" him and one of them asked if the Government of India was ready for a dialogue with the Hurriyat Conference. He had said that the Centre would consider whether to start a fresh dialogue with the APHC or not. "The question posed to me was not specific. All I understood was whether the Centre wants to start talks with the Hurriyat or not".

Asked whether the Centre would start a dialogue with the Hurriyat, he said: "In the past, we appointed K.C. Pant for the purpose of starting a dialogue with the whole spectrum of political leadership in the State. The APHC was also invited. If the Hurriyat wants to have dialogue, there should not be any conditions."

On whether the Government would hold talks with Pakistan now that it was convinced that infiltration has stopped at the moment, Mr. Fernandes said "yes, infiltration at the moment has stopped and this is the position on the ground given to me by my core commanders. But this should become a permanent feature as General Musharraf has promised. For the moment, for whatever Pakistan has done, India has appropriately responded — by withdrawing the Naval forces from the Arabian Sea, lifting the ban on overflight by Pakistani aircraft and reviving diplomatic relations by appointing a new High Commissioner there. These are not mere gestures but are concrete steps taken by us. We await a positive response from Pakistan to these measures''. He said the immediate threat was from militants who have already sneaked into the State. Evidence available suggested that approximately 3000 of them were in the State.

Referring to the Home Minister, L.K. Advani's statement that the situation on the border was still tense and that a large number of terrorists were waiting across the Line of Control to cross into the State, Mr. Fernandes said the borders were still volatile. Troops were still in action on the borders and we have not relaxed our vigil.

The Defence Minister visited the forward areas in the Jammu region and reviewed the operational preparedness there. He was briefed by the GOC 16 Corps, J.B.S. Yadava, at Nagrota. He also visited some of the forward areas close to the Line of Control, Rajouri, Poonch, Nowshera, Akhnoor and the International Border in the Samba sector.

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