May 22, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 19,1424

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NEW DELHI, May 21: India’s army chief was at loggerheads on Wednesday with the head of the paramilitary Border Security Force over alleged cross-border infiltration, while Defence Minister George Fernandes opted for the middle way, suggesting that both could be right.

The three were quoted by the NDTV news channel as all speaking in contradictory voices.

NDTV said that after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L.K Advani in the morning, Army Chief General N.C. Vij and Border Security Force Director-General Ajai Raj Sharma gave different accounts of what was happening on the Line of Control.

“There is no difference in infiltration from their (Pakistan’s) end,” Gen Vij declared.

“The situation has improved since last month,” said Mr Sharma. And it took Mr Fernandes “a man, who until last week, was also accused of making conflicting statements, to try and salvage the situation,” the report said.

Mr Fernandes said: “Infiltration is difficult to measure.” “The situation in the morning may be different from the situation in the afternoon or the situation in the night.”

“And so Fernandes settled the debate by claiming that it was impossible to get an exact idea of the state of infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir,” NDTV said.