01 February 2005	Tuesday	21 Zilhaj 1425

NEW DELHI, Jan 31: India's outgoing army chief Gen N.C Vij said on Monday that infiltration across the Line of Control in Kashmir had reduced to a trickle and expressed the hope that India and Pakistan could resolve their remaining differences peacefully.

"No soldier wants a war and if our purpose is served peacefully, it's for the good of the country," Gen Vij told reporters, when asked for his views on the year long military stand off with Pakistan two years ago.

He played down the recent shelling on the LOC as "nothing sinister". The cease fire violations could be "stray cases" either attributable to rogue elements in the Pakistan Army, who might be helping to push the militants across, or groups of militants attempting to sneak in.

"There is no cause for concern. Our troops maintained restraint and did not respond to the shelling and it speaks volumes of how seasoned they had become," Gen Vij said in an informal interaction with reporters before handing over charge to his successor Gen Joginder Jaswant Singh, a hero of Kargil operations

Asked if the erection of an anti-infiltration fence was a key achievement of his two-and-a-half year tenure as the Army Chief, Gen Vij: "Bringing about near normalcy is a proud achievement of the Army with help from paramilitary forces, local police and administration and the state government".

"We have been able to bring down infiltration to a trickle despite best of efforts from the other side." Security forces had also been able to eliminate the top leadership of the armed anti-India resistance inside Jammu and Kashmir, with the number of militants decreasing from 3,500 to 1,600-1,700.

"This number will decrease further as the inflow across the border has become a trickle and the security forces keep up their pressure on them", he said.