August 19, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 20, 1424

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NEW DELHI, Aug 18: Indian army chief Gen N. C. Vij is on a five-day visit to forward posts in occupied Jammu and Kashmir to review the “overall security situation there,” the Times of India reported on Monday.

It said the visit was happening in the background of India’s rejection of Pakistan’s reported claim that India was amassing troops in the Dras-Kargil sector.

The report quoted army officers as saying that Gen Vij was “assessing the situation” along the 740-km-long LoC and the “progress on the construction of fences along the Indo-Pak border”, as well as the counter-insurgency operations.

Describing the troop movement near the LoC as a “normal switchover of formations”, Army officers say “selective fencing” of the border is being carried out to check cross-border infiltration.

“A frontage of about 110 kilometres out of a total of 523 kilometres that has been planned for fencing along the LoC is in progress. It is expected to be completed by mid-2004. The remaining work will be taken up after that,” the Times report said, quoting an official.