New Delhi: Pakistan through proxy militant groups in Kashmir is using local militants to create fear in the Valley and is making all attempts to show the indigenous face of terrorism, Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande said on Monday.
Pande said, “There is a new trend in Kashmir. Pakistan is using locals through proxy ‘tanzim’ to create fear and get visibility through media to show the indigenous face of terrorism.”
The Army Chief said the current spate of killing of non-locals, political workers and minorities is an attempt to create sensation and show that insurgency in Kashmir is indigenous. “Through counter-terror operations, we have managed to neutralise such attempts and we have been successful,” Pande said.
Talking about infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir, the officer said there has been improvement since 2019. “The counter-infiltration grid in the Valley has been successful,” he said.
However, Pande said that Pakistan has started pushing in arms and ammunition and drugs through international boundary in Punjab.
He added that Pakistan has been sending these through drones and it is a matter of concern which is being looked upon. In the past couple of months, the security agencies have witnessed a rise in cross-border efforts of dropping consignments of weapons and narcotics into Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir along the border using drones.
In February, the Punjab government had informed a Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs that over 130 drones have been sighted near the Pakistan border in the last two years.