National

Proxy war continues: Advani

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI SEPT. 22. The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, has said that the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative during his visit to Srinagar in April has not been reciprocated by Pakistan in equal measure. The proxy war and infiltration from across the border have continued as before, he said.

The theory of "root causes", being propagated by many people, should be rejected lock, stock and barrel, he said.

"The fact remains that terrorism is an evil. The nation is facing the challenge of terrorism and is seriously concerned about human rights without compromising on the principles of democracy."

Addressing the 31st annual training conference of the Border Security Force here today, Mr. Advani said that India would do whatever could be done to eliminate terrorism from the world. Expressing confidence that India would be able to win the proxy war, he said the BSF's role in it was "very vital".

Complimenting the BSF for eliminating the Jaish-e-Mohammad's operational chief, Ghazi Baba, in Srinagar recently, he said the operation was intelligently planned and meticulously executed.

In his address, the BSF Director-General, Ajai Raj Sharma, said that the force's recent achievements in counter-insurgency operations indicated the standard of training of its personnel. Courses on nuclear, biological and chemical warfare had been started for officers and men, he said.

Mr. Sharma said that collective training for six weeks once a year for the existing BSF companies had suffered a setback and the percentage of those undergoing training had come down to 53 during 2002-03. He requested Mr. Advani to raise 22 more reserve battalions.

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