Our army has the calibre to stop cross-border infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir: Arun Jaitley

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the Indian Army is capable and has enough caliber to counter infiltrations from across the border.

Addressing a news conference after interactions with the state government and the Unified Command here, Jaitley said he had taken stock of the situation prevailing on the ground in Jammu and Kashmir, and would report back to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the same after the latter returns from Bhutan.

Jaitley, who is on a two-day visit of the state, held a security review meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Chief of the Army Staff, General Bikram Singh today.
After the meeting, he said, "There is a domination of our army and our soldiers in those regions, and they have enough calibre to stop the infiltrations."

Condemning Pakistan for ceasefire violations, he said, "Ceasefire violations happen from the other side, but in response to those violations, an appropriate reply is given by our soldiers."

Jaitley said, after holding discussions and measuring the situation, he was quite optimistic about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also rebutted the claims that there was a political reason behind his visit, saying "I came for one reason and that was to conduct a review on the LOC and our security preparations."

He said, "I found that we were adequately prepared, and I am going back with a sense of reasonable satisfaction."

The visit comes just two days after the ceasefire violations were reported along the Line of Control (LOC) from the Pakistan side.