Pak has increased infiltration attempts: Arun Jaitley

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that Pakistan has increased attempts to push terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir through the border, but there is a high number of casualties on Pakistan's side. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said the Indian Army has "domination and impact" along the western border and all steps to check infiltration from across the border have been taken.

He said, due to the heightened vigil, many infiltration attempts have been foiled. Giving figures, he said, there have been 285 incidents of ceasefire violation this year through the LoC, compared to 228 last year. He further said there were 221 ceasefire violations along the International Border which is guarded by both the Border Security Force and the Army.

Replying to another question, Jaitley said, the threat perception to secure the borders and protect national interests are reviewed regularly. He added that the government was taking measures to ensure modernisation of Indian security forces to prepare them to meet operational and security challenges.

He said radars, sensors and thermal imagers along with surveillance have been incorporated to detect and intercept infiltration by terrorists. "Fortification of border is a continuous process. Anti-infiltration steps like obstacle systems, technical gadgets have been installed by the Army," he said.

Jaitley said the Indian Army has "domination and impact" along the western border and all steps have been taken to check infiltration from across the border. He said radars, sensors and thermal imagers along with surveillance have been incorporated on this fence to detect and intercept infiltration by terrorists. "Fortification of border is a continuous process. Anti- infiltration steps like obstacle systems, technical gadgets have been installed by the Army and enough steps have been taken to check infiltration," he said. He added that the Army has constructed an anti-infiltration obstacle system (AIOS) along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, under its operational control.

"Appropriate retaliation to the ceasefire violations and other tactical incidents by Pakistan Army, as required, is carried out by Indian Army. All the forward posts are adequately strengthened to withstand enemy fire. Besides, there are well-established Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to safeguard against enemy fire to minimise own casualties," Jaitley said.

In reply to another question, Jaitley said the government has enhanced special allowances given to defence personnel serving in difficult areas like Siachen. He said recently the government has announced the special allowances for defence personnel which were more than what the 7th Pay Commission had recommended.