January 8, 2002	Tuesday	Shawwal 23, 1422

BANGALORE, Jan 7: Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes said Monday there was no change in the military situation along the Indo-Pakistan border following a the Saarc summit, but ruled out strikes across the LoC.

“Any hope from the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit has been belied,” Fernandes told reporters on the sidelines of a business summit in Bangalore.

“There is no qualitative change in the border situation.”

But the defence minister said diplomatic efforts were still on to defuse the situation and ruled out strikes against militant camps across the de facto Line of Control, which separates India and Pakistan.

When asked about possible attacks against camps, he replied: “No surgical strikes.”

However, the defence minister said the situation would not spiral out of control into a full-blown military flashpoint by accident because Indian troops were “very disciplined”.

“This is not a flashpoint situation... at the moment our men are guarding the frontlines and so is Pakistan,” Fernandes said.

The defence minister also hinted at the possibility of increasing the country’s defence budget for the fiscal year ending March 2003 to be tabled in parliament next month.

“There is a proxy war on and also modernisation is important,” he said.

During the last fiscal year India hiked defence spending by 13.8 percent to 620 billion rupees (13.2 billion dollars).—AFP