BIKANER (India), May 21: Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes on Tuesday told commanders in Rajasthan that a “strong reply” had to be given to “Pakistan-backed terrorism” and warned them to be “prepared for any eventuality”.
A top military commander said Fernandes had called a meeting of senior officers after a demonstration of air force firepower in the Mahajan firing range on the outskirts of Bikaner, in Rajasthan.
“The defence minister called a meeting of top army and airforce commanders after the air exercises. He said there should be no let-up in security and a strong reply had to be given to Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism,” said the commander who attended the meeting.
“He also asked us to be prepared for any eventuality.”
After the meeting, Fernandes, accompanied by army chief Gen Sundarajan Padmanabhan and air force chief S. Krishnaswamy, flew to key frontier posts to assess troop and tank mobilization along Rajasthan’s 1,050-kilometre border with Pakistan.
“Fernandes and the army and airforce chief spent an hour conducting an aerial survey of key border posts such as Suratgarh and Ganganagar,” the commander added.
According to Rajasthan state government officials, the Indian army took a decision on Monday to halt traditional flag meetings between Indian Border Security Force guards and Pakistani Rangers posted on the highly-militarized western border.
The daily flag meetings saw an officer from each side meeting in no man’s land and raising a white flag before holding discussions.
Gurupal Singh, the divisional manager of state-run Indian Railways, said the army had requisitioned special trains to move additional troops to the border.
“There has been a great deal of troop movement. Extra rations and water are also being carried by the railways to meet the needs of the soldiers on the border,” said Singh.
NAVY ALERTED: The Indian navy, already on high alert, has stepped up security measures, a top navy official said on Tuesday.
“The navy has been on the alert for the past few months, especially after Dec 13, but we stepped up the security further after the latest round of tension between India and Pakistan,” he said.
GUJRAT TROOPS: India is to redeploy troops from the heart of Gujarat to the border because of escalating tensions with Pakistan, an army spokesman said on Tuesday.
“Taking into view the situation on the border, the army, which was sent following communal troubles, is being
withdrawn from Gujarat and being sent to their places (on the border) where they have an operational role,” the spokesman said.
The 1,300 soldiers were deployed in March in the western border state, where some 950 people have been killed since the country’s worst communal violence in a decade erupted in February.—AFP/Reuters
