‘AROUND 160 TERRORISTS WAITING AT LAUNCHPADS’

JAMMU :The terror infrastructure in Pakistan remains intact and around 160 terrorists are waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) to infiltrate into Indian territory, a senior army officer said on Sunday.

Lieutenant General Paramjit Singh, who took over as the general officer commanding of the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps, commonly known as XVI Corps, also said that cross-border terrorism will stop only if Pakistan changes its policy and intentions.

The officer, involved in the planning of the 2016 surgical strikes on the terror infrastructure in Pakistanoccupied-Kashmir, told PTI in an interview that the army was not letting up on “our preparedness and the counter-infiltration grid is strong enough to deal with infiltrators”.

Lt Gen Singh, who has served in all three regions of Jammu and Kashmir, said, “140 to 160 terrorists at different locations in Pakistan are being pushed into the state.”

“The terror infrastructure is intact, and Pakistan’s intentions have not changed. The Pakistan Army and the ISI’s complicity in planning infiltration and terror attacks is evident and it continues,” the officer, who has a vast experience in high-altitude warfare, said.

To a question on the situation along the LoC, he said ceasefire violations have abated after the DGMOlevel talks.

“For troops on the LoC, there is no ceasefire... though periodic unprovoked firing by the Pakistan Army and attempts to cause harm to forward posts continue. We do not initiate fire, but we give it back in adequate measure,” he said.