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Fernandes briefs Cabinet about Kargil developments

Defence Minister George Fernandes today briefed the Union cabinet on the recent developments in the Kargil sector, where the Indian defence forces were busy flushing out Pakistani infiltrators for the past three days.

The cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, also discussed the strategy adopted by the Indian forces for carrying out the operation.

Before the cabinet meeting, the Cabinet Committee on Security also held its fourth meeting in five days and reviewed the latest situation in Kargil, where the Indian Air Force lost two fighter planes yesterday. Besides the defence minister, Home Minister L K Advani and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, the services chiefs and principal secretary to the prime minister Brajesh Mishra also attended the meeting.

Briefing the press after the meetings, Fernandes said he was confident that the Indian armed forces will achieve their goal and flush out infiltrators at the earliest.

He said so far more than 200 infiltrators were killed in the operation, which commenced in a big way on May 26. The casualties on the Indian side were 24 till yesterday, Fernandes said.

He pointed out that the government felt that the Pakistani armed forces were behind the infiltration and the Pakistani government and ISI have no hand in the operation.

Denying charges that Indian intelligence agencies failed in gathering advance information, Fernandes said the activities of the infiltrators were noticed first time on May 6. Later, patrolling teams also noticed further build-up of infiltrators on the Indian side.

Praising the role of the air force, Fernandes said the ground situation changed dramatically after it joined the operation.

Replying to a question, he said the government was not aware why the Pakistani army was supporting the infiltrators. Whenever we get definite information, we will let you know, he added.

Expressing his happiness over the support from various political parties on the government's decision to carry out armed operations, he said, ''We will ensure that no outsiders are allowed to enter the Indian territory.''

The government is taking all steps to flush out the infiltrators and no timeframe was fixed for the operation, he added.

The government is working on all fronts including diplomatic , Fernandes said, adding that the government will not move the United Nations for bringing back the two pilots, who appeared to have landed on the Pakistani side after ejecting.

He said the government had already informed the US and British representatives about the latest developments in Kargil.

UNI

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