Army chief assures LG of strategic approach to tackle terror in Jammu

PTI, Jul 21, 2024, 10:46 AM IST

credit: PTI

Jammu: Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday assured Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha that the armed forces and security agencies will work with a “synergetic approach” to tackle growing terror activities in the Jammu region, and maintain peace and stability.

The assurance came as they chaired back-to-back high-level joint security review meetings here, amid concern over rising number of terror incidents and cross-border infiltration.

The meeting at the Raj Bhawan and the police headquarters were also attended by the director generals of the BSF, CRPF, J&K Police, the heads of intelligence agencies and other senior security officials, the officials said.

General Dwivedi first chaired an over an-hour-long meeting at the police headquarters before almost all the participants moved to the Raj Bhawan for another round of meeting when LG Sinha, who was in Srinagar, returned to Jammu.

Sinha chaired the high-level meeting with the Army Chief, various heads of security and law-enforcement agencies and asked them to pro-actively conduct coordinated counterterrorism operations in the Jammu Division.

“We must launch meticulous and well-planned counterterrorism operations with greater synergy between all the agencies to wipe out terrorists and those aiding and abetting them,” the LG said.

Sinha also directed that the security grid should be further strengthened to ensure zero cross-border infiltration, an official statement said.

The Army chief’s visit to Jammu, second in less than three weeks after taking charge as the 30th chief of the Indian Army on June 30, comes close on the heels of two terror attacks that left nine army personnel, including a captain, dead in remote forest belts of Machedi in Kathua and Desa forest in Doda on July 8 and July 15.

The officials said the senior officers of defence and home ministry also attended the meeting chaired by the army chief in Jammu.

In a post on X, Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) said the ‘Joint Security Review Meeting’ at Jammu focussed on thwarting the malevolent design of terrorists and anti national elements in the region. It also shared four pictures from the visit of army chief including one from his one-on-one meeting with the Lt Governor.

The ADGPI said the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) met Sinha and deliberated on the prevailing security dynamics in the region.

“COAS assured the LG J&K on a synergetic approach by Armed Forces and security Agencies to tackle the present situation and maintain peace and stability in the region,” it said.

Referring to the meeting chaired at the police headquarters, the ADGPI said all stakeholders from security forces and Intelligence agencies, operating in UT of J&K, attended it.

On July 16, the Army said all formations of the Udhampur-based northern command are committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Army said it has been conducting a series of joint and coordinated operations with the Jammu and Kashmir Police to eliminate foreign terrorists who have infiltrated from across the border and are moving in the upper reaches of Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar districts in Jammu region and thereafter to Kashmir.

On July 3, the chief of army staff visited the border district of Poonch and also chaired a meeting in Jammu and reviewed the security situation.

Earlier on July 11, senior BSF and police officials from Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab discussed ways to share real-time inputs and further strengthen the anti-infiltration grid along the International Border in a meeting in Kathua district.

The high-level coordination conference, which was also attended by officers from central agencies, was to bolster the security apparatus and to focus on enhancing coordination and synergy among the Border Security Force, Punjab Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police, a police spokesperson had said.