November 9, 2002	Saturday	Ramazan 3,1423

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BHUBANESHWAR, Nov 8: The Indian army chief said on Friday that the number of militants “infiltrating” into occupied Kashmir has fallen by more than half this year.

“If we were to assume that the problem was 100 per cent in 2001 then it has reduced to 46 per cent in 2002,” Gen Sundarajan Padmanabhan told reporters in Bhubaneshwar, capital of Orissa.

He claimed a 10-month military build-up on the border with Pakistan had succeeded in sending a message to Islamabad.

Though he sounded optimistic about being able to completely stamp out “infiltration”, Padmanabhan warned that it would take time.

“We don’t have a magic wand by whose touch the problem will vanish. Perhaps we can tackle it by removing our own shortcomings and winning over the confidence of people in the border areas.

“We also have to be much more vigilant,” the army chief said.

The Indian army chief, who retires at the end of next month, said the decision to pull back troops from the border was not dictated by political imperatives.

“The army was on the borders for a specific purpose and I am happy that in the process I was able to exercise my whole army,” he said.

Padmanabhan also sought the allocation of a specific amount of funds for defence purposes from the federal government every year.

“I know my country can give me a certain amount of money,” Padmanabhan said.

“But I want a guaranteed availability ... Let us say about three per cent of GDP as a commitment over the next 10 to 15 years.—AFP