Jaitley holds discussions with Omar, Army officials over security in J&K

Srinagar: Arun Jaitley during his maiden visit as to Jammu and Kashmir as the Defence Minister discussed the security scenario in the state in separate meetings with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and top army officials. He is accompanied by Army Chief General Bikram Singh on his visit.

Speaking over the ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, Jaitley hed a firm stance and said, "for situation to normalise, these kinds of violations that are taking place on LOC must stop. That itself is a confident building measure before any country can proceed further. But I am confident that our security forces are well equipped to repudiate any such attempts if they are made," he said.

He was briefed by local Army officers about the security situation along the LoC and the counter-insurgency operations in the hinterland. "The Defence Minister visited Headquarters of Chinar Corps where he was given a comprehensive briefing on overall security situation in the Kashmir Valley including the counter-infiltration grid along the LoC and counter-terrorism grid in the hinterland," a defence spokesman said.

Later in the day, Omar called on the Defence Minister during which the two leaders discussed the prevailing security scenario in the state. "Had a very productive meeting with Arun Jaitley in Srinagar this afternoon. Discussed matters related to both defence and finance with him," Omar wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.

After the meeting, an official spokesman said the two leaders discussed the current situation on the LoC during the hour-long meeting. "Matters relating to preparedness of the state government to conduct upcoming Amarnath Yatra smoothly also came up for discussion," he said.

The Chief Minister shared with Jaitley, who is also Union Finance Minister, certain financial matters relating to the development plan of Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesman said.

He said aspects regarding skill development initiatives taken by the state government also came up for discussion. The Defence Minister is scheduled to visit forward areas along the Line of Control tomorrow and will interact with

commanders and troops, the spokesman said.

He said Jaitley is also scheduled to attend a special security review meeting on Monday which will be attended by top officials of the civil administration, police, army and para-military forces.